A police operation has helped to clamp down on the number of knives being sold to children.
Officers teamed up with trading standards teams from Sunderland City Council to carry out test purchases at shops across the city earlier this year.
Of 40 stores visited, 16 sold knives to young people. But after a stern warning from police, store
owners were brought into line and in a follow-up operation, no knives were sold to minors.
Police today told the Echo they are also succeeding in bringing down criminal activity in which the weapons are used.
Robberies involving knives in Sunderland have halved and other knife crimes have dropped by more than half.
Between April 1 and June 30 this year there were eight incidents of violence or threats involving a knife, compared to 18 similar incidents in the same period last year.
Robberies involving knives have also halved, with four incidents between April 1 and June 30 compared with eight last year.
Police in the city are continuing to deliver the hard-hitting "Tooled up for School" programme to all secondary school pupils, which highlights the devastating effects knife crime can have.
Chief Superintendent Dave Pryer, of Sunderland Area Command, said: "It's important to remember that in Northumbria, and in particular Sunderland, we don't have the same levels of knife crime as experienced in other parts of the country.
"It's reassuring to note that these levels are being reduced still further by the work of Northumbria Police and our partners.
"We carried out an operation, found that some retailers were selling bladed items to underage people and took the appropriate action to prevent this happening again.
"As well as educating retailers about their responsibilities, we will continue to educate young people about the dangers that knives can pose, ensuring that knife crime remains low by preventing people from acquiring knives in the first place."
Call to ban Internet sales of knivesTrading standards chiefs have called for a blanket ban on the sale of knives over the Internet.
Online retailers have ignored repeated warnings to stop selling them to children, the Trading Standards Institute said.
Mystery shopper research found as many as four out of five online stores were prepared to sell knives to children aged under 18.
Online research by six trading standards teams found 58 out of 72 websites would sell knives to children.
In one case a 15-year-old boy was able to buy four knives, including a large machete, using a debit card.
It is illegal to sell a knife or any article with a blade to a person under the age of 18.
Businesses and staff can face a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison for breaking the law.
