This was the terrifying weapon seized from a teenager during a county-wide crackdown on dangerous knives.

Suffolk police launched Operation Sceptre this week in the wake of a series of stabbings that have taken place in the county.

The campaign urges people to ditch their dangerous blades in knife amnesty bins placed across the county, while also making people aware of the dangers of arming themselves with weapons.

On the third day of the week-long campaign, Stowmarket police officers Tweeted a dagger in a black case they seized from a 17-year-old in the town.

When Operation Sceptre launched this week, Suffolk police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore said: “If there is a message that is very pertinent in Suffolk right now, it is please help us stop knife crime.

“We need to do all we can through education, peer pressure, policing and sentencing to make it absolutely clear that it’s never acceptable for a person to carry a knife or weapon.”