5000 Knives donated to Shropshire National Memorial Statue

The knives will be used to create a 20ft tall Angel statue with police forces from across the UK and the Home Office working together on the project.

During 2015, families effected by knife crime, chief police officers, politicians, celebrities, community leaders and ex-gang members renouncing violence will all be welding their own knifes in place or symbolically helping with the statue's construction.

Inspector Rik Klair and Oswestry Sgt Scott Barnes arranged for knives seized or surrendered within the two force areas over the last two years to be delivered free of charge by Biffa Environmental Services to the centre.

Inspector Rik Klair said: "We are very pleased to be involved in this very important cause and be leading the delivery of knives for such a thought provoking project happening here locally. This will no doubt make many people think about the consequences of carrying weapons and have a considerable national impact."

Sgt Scott Barnes said: "This was is a joint venture and involved a considerable amount of work and coordination between ourselves within West Mercia and Warwickshire and required the authority of Mr Shaw our Chief Constable. This could also have not been possible without the help of Steve Keeling from Biffa environmental services who agreed to making this delivery free of charge to support the cause."

Clive Knowles from the British Ironworks Centre said: "This is the single largest donation of knifes so far, we are expecting contributions from all the 43 police forces around the UK."

Sculpture creator Alfie Bradley added: "I now have a sufficient amount of knives to make a real start, each blade will become a feather, I expect the Angel to be completed in the autumn, although it is very hard to estimate."

Over 100,000 knives will be required to complete the sculpture.