CHILDREN using a play park had a lucky escape from danger after a large knife was discovered.

Lancashire firefighter Chris Archer uploaded a picture of the knife to his Twitter after he discovered it in a play park on Monday afternoon.

In the brief tweet he said: “Just found this knife on a children's play park. It'll be going into one of @PendlePolice knife bins tomorrow.”

Knife bins are being installed across Lancashire to give people a safe place to dispose of unwanted knives and sharp items.

A total of 16 new safe and secure containers are now located in busy, well-lit areas that are easy to get to as part of Lancashire Constabulary’s ongoing work to keep knives off the streets.

They aim to provide people with a legal and safe way to surrender knives and bladed items.

Using the bins helps to keep unwanted bladed weapons out of circulation. Any knives will be disposed of by the police unless there is an obvious sign one has been used in a crime.

The knife bins are located in:

Blackpool

Burnley

Darwen

Fleetwood

Lancaster

Morecambe

Preston

Rossendale

Skelmersdale

South Ribble

Chief Inspector Steve Anderton, Knife Crime Lead at Lancashire Violence Reduction Unit said: “Knives and sharp objects are present in everyone’s home and are easily picked up by children and young people. Providing a safe facility for dealing with unwanted knives is just one of many ways we can come together with communities to keep knives off our streets and protect young people.

“Anyone who has a knife or bladed weapon can dispose of it in the knife bins where it will be taken away and destroyed. We want to keep knives off the streets and keep our young people safe and providing a way for people to dispose of bladed items helps us to do that.”