Haul of knives, axe and hammer found in Leeds as police seize 87 illegal weapons in one month

Operation Jemlock, a West Yorkshire Police operation tackling serious violent crime and knife crime, was launched in April 2019.

Officers revealed it was a 'successful August' as 87 weapons were taken off the streets.

Police found a haul of weapons including knives, a large axe and a hammer in Leeds last month.

After a tip off from the public, officers carried out a weapons sweep in Burmantofts and found the stash of dangerous items.

Operation Jemlock Chief Inspector Pete Hall said: "A good month. Getting one knife off the streets is a success so 87 weapons is an excellent team effort."

The number of people caught with knives and illegal weapons in Leeds has more than doubled in the last five years.

A West Yorkshire Police chief partly attributed the rise in weapons possession crimes to increased police action targeting illegal weapons in Leeds since the launch of Operation Jemlock .

There have been more than 3,000 arrests made and 300 weapons seized across West Yorkshire as part of the operation which began in April 2019.

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