Police set up scanner to check pupils for weapons

Children in Purley had to pass through an airport-style security scanner as police continued a clampdown on knife crime.

The move was part of Operation Blunt 2, launched six weeks ago after a series of killings.

Around 20 police and community support officers were involved in the searches in Surrey, which took place as the children made their way home from school.

Scotland Yard said officers had now searched nearly 27,000 youths since the operation began and seized 528 knives.

There have been 1,214 arrests, 813 of which were for possession of weapons and a further 217 for knife-related crimes.

Mayor Boris Johnson said of the police operation: "It is not a short-term whirlwind offensive against knives.

"It is a sustained visible longterm operation and it is vital to recognise that we cannot hope to succeed by police work alone."