THE region's five local authorities have partnered up in the fight against knife crime.

Merseyside Police asked colleagues from St Helens, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton and the Wirral to pledge their time, expertise and influence to help develop important information about the causes, impact, cost and solutions to the problem of knife crime throughout Merseyside.

Each authority will be focusing on different areas, ranging from information gathering and improving community confidence to exploring how to reduce knife related injuries and the number of people found in possession of knives.

The aim is that by vital information, raising awareness, improving communication and education-based initiatives, that the issue can be tackled more effectively.

Superintendent Louise Harrison said: “We know that knife related incidents are something that concern our communities but we also know that this is not something we can tackle alone and that means working closely with our partners in the local authorities and other agencies such as the prisons service and youth offending service.

“The idea is that we all put our heads together and share our knowledge and experience to come up with a workable solution to the problem and how best to implement it on Merseyside.

“In the past different local authorities and partner groups, including ourselves, have launched campaigns, initiatives and programmes to tackle the issue independently. This is about bringing all that expertise and wealth of experience together in one place.”