Knife crime is at a 10-year high in England and Wales, new figures show.
The number of offences dealt with by the justice system in the year ending September 2019 was the highest it has been in a decade.
There were 22,286 knife and offensive weapon offences formally dealt with by the criminal justice system in England and Wales last year, according to Ministry of Justice statistics.
This is a three per cent rise on the previous year and the highest since September 2009 (26,364).
The figures follow Tuesday's announcement that the Prime Minister ordered all Whitehall departments to take action on tackling crime.
Boris Johnson told ministers every department should consider itself a criminal justice department as part of a drive to look at the "complex causes of crime" which would involve long-term reforms to improve health, social care, youth services and education.
It comes after figures published in October - relating to the year ending June 2019 - showed a rise of 7 per cent from the previous 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Those police statistics showed there had been 44,076 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in a year.
Joe Traynor, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, previously said: "While overall levels of violence have remained steady, the number of offences involving a knife has continued to increase across England and Wales.
"However, the number of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was involved decreased, driven by falls in London.
"There is a mixed picture in the total number of knife crime offences across police forces with the Metropolitan Police recording little change in the last year."
Rising levels of knife crime were previously blamed on gang violence and government cuts to the police force.
Some also claim the decision to end 'stop and search' resulted in a spike in stabbings.
