Hundreds of knives and other dangerous weapons have been taken off the streets of the East End in just four months in a drive to stop the rise in gang crime.

A joint operation between the Met Police and Tower Hamlets Council using ‘amnesty bins’ has seen 767 knives and 150 other weapons being put into them.

The bins installed by the Words4Weapons charity allow anyone to deposit knives anonymously and safely. The knives are then destroyed and are not investigated — even if they have been used for crime.

“These amnesty bins are to take knives off the streets,” Tower Hamlets cabinet member Abu Chowdhury explained. “We do see some knife crime unfortunately, like any other London borough. But every knife removed from the streets is potentially a life saved.”

The authority is also running workshops and outreach programmes to educate young people about the consequences of carrying knives and helping them to turn away from joining street gangs.

Other weapons dropped in the bins included scissors, kitchen knives and utensils, knuckles, swords, and DIY tools.

The “no questions asked” amnesty follows eight years of proactive police weapons sweeps since 2015 which have been uncovering hidden weapons.

Criminals avoid being stopped and searched while carrying weapons by having hidden them in public places — even in children’s playgrounds.

Now the ‘amnesty bins’ are getting many weapons off the streets.

They were installed in January at locations including the junction of Bethnal Green Road and Barnet Grove in Bethnal Green, along Vallance Road opposite Underwood Road in Whitechapel, in Burslem Street off Cannon Street Road in Shadwell and in Brownfield Street in Poplar, which were all last emptied at the beginning of April.

It’s an offence to have a knife in a public place and “there aren’t many reasonable excuses for having one”, police warn.

Anyone wanting to get rid of a knife or other sharp weapon is being urged to wrap it in several layers of cardboard or newspaper and secure it with sticky tape so the blade is covered safely, then place in a cardboard box.