Officers found knives stashed in bushes near to a children's play area in Leeds

Weapons found in bushes at Banstead park in Harehills, Leeds

The force carried out a 'weapons sweep' in the Harehills area on Thursday morning.

Officers raided shrubbery at the bottom of Banstead Park on Roundhay Road, discovering several knives which had been 'stashed away'.

The search was carried out by the Operation Jemlock team, which is West Yorkshire Police's knife crime campaign team.

Officers with Operation Jemlock carry out a weapons sweep in Banstead Park on Roundhay Road, Leeds

Pictures of the knives found, which included a utility knife and a kitchen knife, were shared by Operation Jemlock on Twitter.

The area where officers searched is just yards from a children's play area in the park.

Officers wrote: "#OpJemlock taking steps today to reduce knife crime in #Leeds conducting a weapons sweep at #BansteadPark in #Harehills alongside officers from @WYP_LeedsEast.

"A number of weapons were found stashed away and recovered by officers."

Knives found around Banstead Park in Harehills, Leeds

Figures released by West Yorkshire Police under the Freedom of Information Act this month revealed there were 780 knife-related crimes recorded in Leeds between January and the end of September this year, with the figure rising year-on-year since 2014.

The most common crimes involving bladed weapons recorded in Leeds this year were robbery, assault and making threats to kill.