Hillingdon police have admitted they 'got it wrong' after a woman who found a knife in a park was turned away from Uxbridge police station when she tried to dispose of it.
A new knife disposal bin has been installed at the Hillingdon police headquarters in Warwick Place and was announced on the force's newly launched Facebook page on Sunday (September 18).
The member of the public previously spoke of her shock after she discovered the long-bladed knife lying on the grass in Rectory Park, Northolt.
But when she tried to hand the blade in at Uxbridge police station she was told the would not take it, and that she would have to travel to Hayes to deposit the knife.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “The police officer showed complete disregard for the knife. She didn't even write down where I'd found it.”
The mum-of-three found the knife on the evening of August 10 at went to the police station at around 10.30pm that night.
After being told to dispose of the knife at one of three banks in Hayes, she instead left it in a drain outside the police station for officers to deal with.
Posting on Facebook at around 11am on Sunday, Hillingdon Police said: “How the Metropolitan Police deals with property found in the street was changed a few years ago. We no longer take low value items that are unlikely to be returned to an owner.
“But we will take harmful items and items that could be recovered to an owner.
“Recently we turned someone away at Uxbridge Police Station who wanted to hand in a knife. We got it wrong this occasion.”
They added: “Our officers have been reminded of our policy. If you find a knife and hand it in, we will take it.
“We have listened to feedback about this incident and looked to improve further and have this week installed a knife bin in the front officer at Uxbridge Police Station.”
