OVER 550 firearms have been handed in to Lancashire Police since the start of a national amnesty to reduce gun crime on Britain's streets.

Officers who helped organise the amnesty say they are pleased with the response which has seen hundreds of dangerous weapons taken off the region's streets.

The month-long countrywide amnesty officially ended at midnight and officers are in the process of collating the final figures.

But we can reveal that Lancashire Police estimate they have received over 550 weapons - including as many as 80 weapons in the past week alone.

Included in the haul are prohibited items such as revolvers and rifles and non-prohibited weapons such as shotguns, air rifles, air pistols and imitation firearms, to have been handed in.

In addition thousands of pieces of ammunition and other weapons such as knives have also been surrendered to the region's police stations during the past 30 days.

During the month-long amnesty, 95 weapons were dropped off in the first seven days followed by 222 in the second week. In the third week - which included the Easter weekend - 157 weapons were handed in.

Officers today praised the people of Lancashire for continuing to hand weapons in until the final cut off point.

Chief Inspector Ian Pilling said: "We have been very pleased with the response during the amnesty which has seen a lot of dangerous weapons taken off Lancashire's streets.

"The amnesty only finished at midnight and we have still to finalise the tally, but based on our weekly averages we look certain to top the 550 mark.

"It could be even more because officers have been reporting a last minute rush particularly in the Eastern division.

"That, of course, does not take account of all the ammunition or the other weapons such as knives which have been surrendered.

"Now these along with the weapons will be destroyed and taken out of circulation."

The amnesty was introduced before a minimum five-year jail sentence for illegal possession of prohibited firearms comes into force.

According to the Home Office the number of firearms in Lancashire almost doubled from 59 to 103 last year which was one of the biggest in the country.