A NAZI dagger and Samurai swords were just some of the bladed weapons handed in during the month-long knife amnesty.

Police top brass have hailed it a success but admit there is a lot still to be done to rid Halton's streets of knives and other dangerous weapons.

"This was not just an exercise in clearing people's drawers," said Widnes' neighbourhood policing inspector Nick Bailey. "The way some of them have been adapted shows they were intended to be used as weapons."

In Widnes, 112 items were dumped in the red amnesty bin at the police station in Milton Road.

Most eye-catching were the truncheon, iron bar and improvised cosh along with the German Second World War dagger and oriental swords.

In Runcorn, only 30 knives were deposited in the police station's box at Halton Lea, 23 of which were kitchen or bread knives.

However, the neighbourhood policing inspector there, Mike Naughton, said it was still a worthy exercise.

"We've had a scalpel and an ornamental sword but nothing particularly gruesome," he said.

"Thirty is not a lot for a town like Runcorn but because of where the police station is, people may have been reluctant to walk through the shopping city with a weapon."

"Anything that helps remove potential weapons from the streets though is a good thing I would always support."

Across Cheshire the total number was 1,987. Now the amnesty is over anyone caught in possession of a knife or bladed weapon in public is breaking the law.