As part of Northumbria Police's Get Tough on Knives campaign, police have been using a string of measures.

Last week officers took to the streets in Shiney Row after getting the go-ahead to use tough stop and search powers.

For six hours police armed with portable metal detectors were able to stop and search anyone in the area rather than just people they suspect are carrying weapons.

They found no knives on anyone who was stopped.

Another operation at Park Lane Interchange last week saw police put up a knife arch, similar to those used at airports.

During the five hours it was there, police again found no knives at the city's busiest pedestrian thoroughfare.

Police are continuing with their crackdown over the coming weeks, but today said no weapons being found highlights the fact that Sunderland does not suffer from the epidemic seen in other cities.

Chief Superintendent Dave Pryer, of Sunderland Area Command, said: "What both of these operations show is that we just don't have the same problem with knife crime as other parts of the country.

"The primary focus for this campaign is about providing reassurance to the public and the results of both of those operations certainly support the fact that few people in this city carry knives.

"We continue to do a great deal of work raising awareness of the issues around carrying knives and we have seen very low levels of knife crime as a result.

"Though we welcome these results supporting the fact that we have low levels of knife crime in the city, my view is that even one knife crime is one too many and we will continue to act to remove knives from the streets of Sunderland."

Chief Constable Mike Craik launched the campaign last month with a two weeks amnesty, which allowed people to hand in their knives legally.

During the amnesty, 653 knives were handed in across Northumbria with 120 being taken to Sunderland police stations.