POLICE have seized a deadly array of horrific weapons in Huddersfield.

Most of the fearsome collection - ranging from Samurai swords and machetes to home-made knuckledusters, coshes and replica guns - have been found on people searched on the streets.

Others were discovered when police were called to incidents or carried out searches at homes.

A nationwide knife amnesty is to be held across the UK in late May - but police chiefs have given an insight into the kinds of weapons they regularly discover in Huddersfield.

They have warned offenders they face jail simply for carrying the weapons.

And a single blow from even the smallest knife can end up in a murder charge.

About 60 weapons have been seized in the town in the last three months or so. They are all due to be destroyed.

Kirklees Police community safety co-ordinator Chief Insp Jon Carter said: "People need to have either lawful authority or reasonable excuse to carry any cutting blade that exceeds three inches (7.62cm)."

Usually the blade had to be used regularly for work or religion - and the excuse that people often gave was they were carrying it for their own protection.

This was rejected by the courts.

People caught with an offensive weapon faced up to six months in jail or a fine at magistrates' court.

The most serious offences were dealt with at crown court and the maximum jail term rose to four years.

But anyone who wounded someone else with a knife could face a life jail term. If they murdered someone, they would automatically get life imprisonment.

Chief Insp Carter said many people who carried offensive weapons did not think through the potentially lethal consequences.

"A blade just 3cm (1.18in) long can cause a fatal injury - and all the knives we have seized recently far exceed that," he said.

"When you look at the table with all these weapons on it, it is an horrific sight. All are potential crimes and tragedies that have been prevented by the police."

And he warned those who carried knives they could end up being victims of their own weapons.

"Have they thought what would happen if the person they attacked grabbed it from them and then used it against them?" he said.

"Some of the knives we have seized have serrated edges which are designed to cause maximum injury and trauma to the body. They are a frightening prospect."

And he warned that police targeted offenders they knew who usually carried weapons.

"We know the individuals who carry them," he said. "We will target them and stop and search them."

Replica guns continue to be a problem. They are always treated as real by the police and anyone who points one at a member of the public or an armed officer will be shot.

Chief Insp Carter said: "If police officers face this scenario, their only option is to respond with lethal force."