Anti-knife drive to be expanded

A CAMPAIGN that saw knife carrying reduced by more than a third during a pilot is to be expanded to six new areas.

The No Knives, Better Lives campaign saw a 35 per cent reduction in knife carrying during a pilot in Inverclyde, while a second area, Renfrewshire, saw a 29 per cent fall when the scheme was introduced there.

Earlier this year, the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, announced that funding for the project would be doubled, with a further £500,000 to be spent during 2011/12.

He has now announced that the initiative will be rolled out to six new areas – South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, South-East Glasgow, West Edinburgh, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire.

MacAskill said: “The No Knives, Better Lives education campaign has been a real success during a pilot in Inverclyde, with significant drops in the number of people carrying knives in the area.”

The campaign was launched in 2009 to educate young people about the dangers and consequences of carrying knives.