Knife crime in Devon and Cornwall has dropped by around 10 per cent over the past year, figures show.

Devon and Cornwall Police statistics revealed that between April 2007 and March 2008 there were 951 crimes where a bladed instrument was involved, down from 1,071 crimes in the previous 12 months.

However, the number of crimes where any weapon was involved saw a slight increase over the last year.

In the 12 months to March 2008 there were 2,876 offences, up from 2,709 in the same period a year earlier.

Chief Inspector Keith Perkin, of the territorial policing department at Middlemoor, Exeter, believes a number of factors could be responsible for the fall in knife crime.

"I can't actually say that the fall in the number of crimes is specifically to do with police activity, but it could well be down to the awareness work we have been doing in schools," he said.

"It may well be through the dangers that have been highlighted by the national media."

A series of fatal teenage stabbings have dominated national media coverage in the last few months.

Twenty-one teenagers have already been stabbed to death in London this year.

Chief Insp Perkin said Devon and Cornwall Police was committed to reducing knife crime still further.

"In order to reduce it further, there are proposals around education, working with partners and exposing young people to the cold reality of the consequences of knife crime," he said.

"A lot of young people carry a knife in the belief it is protection, and never intend to use it, but it has the opposite effect.

"They get involved in an incident and will show it. That exacerbates the situation and they will use it when they didn't intend to or it will be used against them."