Knife bins project makes a major impact by taking 8,500 knives off the streets of North Yorkshire
New figures have been released for North Yorkshire showing the results of a knife bin scheme inspired by a pilot scheme’s success in Harrogate.
Designed and delivered by the Community Safety team at North Yorkshire Council, the project builds on a successful pilot launched in Harrogate in January 2023 which has now collected 3,951 bladed weapons in total.
Following that success, knife bins were installed in Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Selby, Tadcaster, Skipton, Settle, Stokesley, Northallerton, Thirsk, Richmond, Colburn, Malton, Pickering, Scarborough, Whitby and multiple locations across York.
Between December 2025 and May 2026, more than 5,583 bladed items were collected in York and North Yorkshire.
Jo Coles, York and North Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Police, Fire and Crime said: "We live in one of the safest regions of the country but violent crime does still happen here and, unfortunately, crimes involving weapons have been increasing.
"Knife crime devastates lives and families.
"The Mayor David Skaith and I are committed to supporting early intervention activities to protect the public."
While knife crime in North Yorkshire remains significantly lower than the national average, the project reflects a shared commitment by the Combined Authority, City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police to reduce serious violence and remove dangerous weapons from the street.
Harrogate's initial knife amnesty pilot collected more than 1,630 bladed items between its launch in January 2023 and late 2024, with that total continuing to rise.
The trial's success prompted North Yorkshire Police and the council to roll out 20 additional permanent bins across the wider county.
Following the success of the pilot, the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority funded an expansion of the project through a £15,000 grant from the York and North Yorkshire Serious Violence Duty (SVD) Prevention and Early Intervention Fund.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for corporate services, Cllr Heather Phillips, said: “This initiative by the community safety team at North Yorkshire Council, is making a real, visible difference in keeping our communities safe.
"Every item safely disposed of is one less weapon on our streets and one less chance for serious harm to occur.”