A sword stick - a walking cane with a lethal yard-long blade hidden inside - has been handed in to police in a knife amnesty.

The weapon was handed in at Brighton police station.

More than 40 knives have been given up since the amnesty was launched last month, including two samurai swords, a bayonet, a machete, flick knives, hunting knives and syringes.

But this is the strangest, and largest, weapon handed in to officers.

It is too big to fit into the bin where police are storing the knives, ready to be melted down.

A police spokeswoman said: "Obviously someone saw their chance to get rid of this, which is the first concealed blade we've received. It is certainly the most unusual weapon we've had."

The scheme, which runs until the end of the month, was prompted by a rise in crimes involving knives.