A man has been arrested after allegedly trying to discard a machete on railway tracks at Colchester.

The British Transport Police in Essex Tweeted about the incident at Colchester railway station on Friday, March 23.

They then Tweeted a photograph of the weapon they seized, which showed the blade to be longer than a 30cm ruler.

Officers Tweeted after the incident: “Yesterday our cops arrested a man at #Colchester for possession of this machete

“Officers met an inbound train and removed the man who attempted to make off from us. He also tried to discard the machete on the tracks.

“Today, we charged him to court. #StopKnifeCrime #SeeTheSigns.”

The nationwide Operation Sceptre to cut knife crime has also been taking place in Essex.

A number of knife amnesty bins have been placed around the county, including in Colchester, where people can hand in blades with no punishment or questions asked.

The move is designed to try and reduce the number of weapons on the streets of the county.