A shocking number of knives have been sold to children aged under 18 at a number of shops in Hounslow during a police operation.
An image provided by Heston police shows a range of knives that were bought, no questions asked, by volunteer police cadets during a operation in Heston and Cranford over the weekend.
The picture shows a range of sharp bladed articles including what appears to be a cleaver, Stanley knife and scissors which were bought by young people.
Among those items sold included a 14-year-old who bought a Stanley knife.
The law states that only over 18s are allowed to buy bladed articles.
As part of Operation Sceptre, officers from Heston and Cranford safer neighbourhood teams were joined by volunteer police cadets to carry out the knife test purchase operation.
The day of action on Sunday (February 5) uncovered a number of staff in shops in the area sold a range of bladed articles to children without carrying out an ID check.
There was at least one instance where a member of staff asked for ID and the item was not sold to the child.
PC Paul Finnegan said: "The idea is to find out who's selling knives or who is willing to sell knives to those under age and those who maybe purchasing them and other like weapons with no genuine reason for purchasing them.
"The idea is to try and reduce the amount of knife crime that is occurring by stopping the supply."
Those caught unlawfully selling bladed articles have been reported to Trading Standards and will be dealt with appropriately.
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