A knife-amnesty bin is due to be installed in Braintree town centre next month.

The metal bin will become a permanent fixture outside Tesco in Market Place for anyone to safely drop in any type of knife to prevent them being used as weapons.

Richard Melton, district commander at Braintree Police, was contacted by the Only Cowards Carry Weapons Awareness charity to organise the bin.

Caroline Shearer, founder of the Clacton-based charity, said: "It doesn’t matter what kind of knife it is - it doesn’t matter if its just a vegetable knife because ultimately my son was stabbed with a vegetable knife.

"It can even be for elderly people who want to sort out their kitchen drawers or it can be knives off the street.

"These are all potential weapons and its the responsibility of every single house owner to dispose of knives in the right manner."

Police will be given a key to the bin but all weapons will be collected by British Ironwork, who are planning to build a 200ft angel statue with the melted metal from more than 10,000 binned knives from across the country.

The towering figure will be based in London and will stand as an anti-violence symbol and national memorial to all those who have lost their lives to knife-related crime.

Clacton and Colchester already have knife bins and the charity will install one in Chelmsford on the same day in June.