I am sure that everyone in Crawley has been horrified by the needless death of a 19 year old woman last week outside Crawley Station, a tragic victim of knife crime.

It brings for me the issue of knife crime into sharp focus. In recent years, stabbings have blighted neighbourhoods and literally destroyed lives locally.  It has to end.

Sadly, people wandering around armed with knives is an increasing problem nationwide and I consider the previous Government was sometimes too slow to address this.

This is backed up by the most recent police recorded crime data published by the ONS, which reveals the number of knife and sharp instrument offences has risen annually by 82% across Sussex since 2015/16.

In response, the new Labour Government is cracking down on Zombie knives and machetes. From 24 September, it will be illegal to own zombie-style knives and machetes.

Ahead of the new ban coming into force, anyone who has one of these weapons is being urged to hand them over – safely and legally.

This scheme​ will be run at police stations across England and Wales for four weeks between 26 August and 23 September, without repercussions for anyone surrendering these potentially dangerous knives safely.

In the months ahead there will be much more from the Labour Government on this – further bans, stronger rules, a clampdown on online sales and a proper strategy to stop young people being sucked into crime.

Regarding the Zombie-knife crackdown, this is right because there can be no legitimate need for such weapons to be in our homes or on our streets. These are fearsome looking weapons.

That is why we will continue to make sure the tightest restrictions are in place to limit the availability of these lethal weapons.

In the meantime, we are offering people the chance to do the right thing – to help make our streets safer, prevent further loss of life and save so many futures.

Political, policing and community leaders must work together to bring the incidents of knife crime to an end and offer a better future for our young people.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council