A large police presence has been spotted in a Merseyside park as officers get set to crack down on knife crime in the region.
Three police vans and police cars pulled up at Court Hey park in Knowsley this afternoon, as part of Operation Target.
Merseyside Police will swoop on different parts of Merseyside this week as part of the operation, which will see bladed weapons seized and arrests made.
Hundreds of land searches and weapon recoveries have been made by the force so far, with 49 people arrested for possession of a knife or sharp object since the operation began on August 29.
A total of 21 people have been charged or postal charged, while 19 are awaiting a decision on their charge to be made.
Chief Inspector Andy Creer, of Merseyside Police, said: "Operation Sceptre gives us the chance to stand alongside the other 42 national police forces taking part to show our commitment to tackling knife crime.
“Operation Target is our local response to what is a national issue. It is pleasing to see that we are already seeing the positive results of our ongoing disruption activity.
“Over 20 people have already been charged with knife possession and we have carried out hundreds of land searches, stop searches and weapon recoveries."
He added: “We will continue to push the message that carrying a knife is not acceptable and people put themselves at risk when they choose to carry a weapon.
“I would ask that the public continues to support us by spreading the message and making carrying a knife socially unacceptable.
“If you know someone is carrying a knife then speak to us or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and help us to finally stamp out this problem.”
