POLICE at St Helens have saluted gun owners who surrendered their weapons after a change in the law.

From February 28 it became illegal to own a .22 handgun.

And owners were given four weeks from February 1 hand them over.

Constable Andy Whittle, who has been collecting the weapons, said: "We have had an excellent response from these law-abiding citizens who are all legal licence holders.

"All the people who have handed in the weapons are gun club members, who are losing their main pasttime and we can only thank them for their co-operation.

"This was not a weapons amnesty. We were collecting the guns from legitimate owners with licences."

All the weapons gathered by police forces throughout the country will eventually be destroyed.

Inspector Bill Brown, added: "Our main concern is those firearms that are not held legally and I urge members of the public, who know of anyone who has illegal possession of firearms to contact their local police station immediately. We welcome any information which could lead to the recovery of illegal firearms."

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