Shocking new figures released today show that a knife crime takes place every four minutes in Britain.
The grim picture was revealed in annual crime figures which showed that police recorded 22,151 offences involving knives last year in England and Wales.
The figures - which have been collected only since April last year - showed offences involving knives included 231 attempted murders, 11,528 personal robberies, 2,359 business robberies and more than 8,000 woundings.
The highest number of knife offences - 7,409 - took place in London alone with the West Midlands having the second highest figure with 2,303 incidents. Third was Greater Manchester with 2,294.
The figures also showed that the menace of knife crime is not just confined to cities with Devon and Cornwall recording 288 offences, Northumbria, 351 and Thames Valley, 329.
Other mainly rural forces with significant numbers of knife crimes included Sussex with 274, Hampshire with 388, Kent with 327, Bedfordshire with 316, Cheshire with 224 and North Wales with 108.
Serious violent crimes involving a blade have previously been bundled with other attacks, but since April last year officers have recorded them separately in light of growing public concern.
The figures come on the day Home Secretary Jacqui Smith published a new package of police reforms, including a resurrection of plans to merge police forces.
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