Huge knives found in Camden playground after shocked children tip off Met Police

Tap above for video report by Rags Martel

Two big knives were found in a north London playground after shocked children tipped off police about the horrifying discovery.

The deadly blades were hidden in bushes in Camden and found by officers searching an area near Lismore Crescent.

A knife was carefully placed into a plastic tube before being taken away from the scene during an operation led by the Met's new Commander tasked with tackling violence.

'Proactive work keeps London safe'

"It’s so important people pass information onto us so we can work on areas where potentially crime is happening and we can do proactive tasks like the knife sweep to make sure we keep it safe," Commander Rachel Williams explained.

"But the more information we get from the public where they are worried people might be hiding knives or where drugs of other criminality may be occurring it’s really important because with the violent crime task force we can put the resources into these areas.

"We can make sure we do weapon searches in these areas - preventative, proactive work that keeps London safe," she added.

'My priorities will remain around preventing crime,' said Commander Williams on the first day in her new job

London's mayor witnessed the Camden knife sweep which came days after four more knives were stashed in bushes in the same playground.

Sadiq Khan said it was vital people came forward with information to help police keep the streets safe.

"They have taken off the streets two knives and the only purpose for those knives is to harm people," said Mr Khan.

"We do need people to come forward with intelligence, Londoners need to be reporting if they see young people hiding knives.

"And if they see young people carrying knives or if someone from their own home is leaving with a knife because they think it keeps them safe - it isn't.

"And if you can't persuade them to leave the knife at home then call the police. We need Londoners to support the police and communities to bear down on violent crime," Mr Khan added.

Recently three people were shot dead in just six days in separate violent killings in London, an unusually high number.

Up until July 19, there had been no firearms killings in the capital since October 31 last year.

In 2021, there were 12 fatal shootings among a total of 134 homicides recorded by the Metropolitan Police.

Earlier this year, in April, the force said it had seen a reduction in gun crime, with the number of all shootings, including fatal and non-fatal, down from from 283 in 2019/20 to 196 in 2021/22.

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