MORE than 100 guns have been handed in as part of a Hampshire-wide surrender.

Over 12 days Hampshire Constabulary received 126 weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

It was part of a national crackdown to stop guns falling into the wrong hands.

Chief constable Andy Marsh (below) said: "This is a significant recovery and I'm surprised. There are very few guns in the hands of criminals within England and Wales. These are exactly the sort of weapons that criminals would want to have to commit crime and allowing people to surrender them voluntarily helps to continue to make Hampshire and the Isle of Wight a safe place to live.

Daily Echo:

"Any gun in the hands of criminals is too many."

He added that every year 500 guns are reported lost or stolen in England and Wales, and so far this year 10 of those were in Hampshire.

Daily Echo:

Among the recovered weapons were rifles, shotguns, a World War One Verey Pistol dated 1914-1916 and a World War Two Lanchester sub-machine gun.

All of the guns will be destroyed, apart from a triple barrelled shotgun which is so rare it will be used to train the firearms team.

Daily Echo:

Sgt Anna Hewitt, who has been helping run the amnesty, estimated that over half the guns were more than 30 years old.

"There are quite a few older rusty ones that were found in garages," she said.

"There were certificate holders that decided they wanted to give them up. There are quite a few that have come back from the first and second world wars and been found in elderly relatives houses.

"We don't care what they are or where they are from, we just want them here so they cannot go on to the market."

Mr Marsh added: "Even though it's finished now if people come across a gun that shouldn't be there they should call the police. It's not something we will run all the time but we will look at it next year."