A knife has been taken off the streets of Rainham thanks to a member of the public.

Officers from Rainham, Upminster, Hacton, Cranham and Hylands, who were on patrol as part of a week of action, were alerted to the sighting of a knife by a member of the public on January 21.

Following this, the teams searched the area, found the blade and conducted "arrest enquiries".

The Met did not clarify the exact location it was found when contacted by this newspaper.

Anyone with information about knife crime is urged to call the police's non-emergency number on 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Alternatively, young people can visit www.fearless.org. Fearless is independent of the police and is part of Crimestoppers.