A councillor whose son was stabbed in a High Wycombe shopping centre has backed Thames Valley Police’s knife amnesty - and urged those carrying weapons to hand them in and help get them off the streets.

Khalil Ahmed, a Wycombe District councillor and Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate, has spoken out two years after his son was viciously attacked in the Eden Shopping Centre on June 23, 2017.

As part of a week-long operation, knives and other bladed weapons can be handed into High Wycombe, Amersham and Aylesbury police stations until Sunday, September 22.

Operation Sceptre aims to reduce crime and keep deadly weapons off the streets. Knife bins have been put in 10 different police stations across Bucks and Berkshire and anyone with a weapon can dispose of them anonymously throughout the week.

Cllr Ahmed, a former High Wycombe mayor, has backed Thames Valley Police’s campaign and urged anyone with a knife to hand it in.

He said: “In 2017 my son, now fully recovered, was stabbed in the Eden Centre in High Wycombe. As a parent, a local councillor and Labour’s Parliamentary candidate I cannot state how important it is to get these weapons out of our community and off our streets.

“I am asking people to hand knives in. The process is anonymous, the object is to create a safer town. This is a really positive move by our local police force. Please hand your knives in today.”

Cllr Ahmed’s son Akeel and his friend were both stabbed in the attack, which happened in the middle of the busy shopping centre in broad daylight.

Aiden George, who was 22 at the time, was jailed for five and a half years with an extended licence of two years for wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article in public.

The Wycombe area had 94 ‘possession of weapons’ offences between August 2018 and July 2019, according to Thames Valley Police figures – and Cllr Ahmed said a knife amnesty can “only contribute towards reducing that number and keeping local people safe.”

It comes just weeks after the Thames Valley was awarded Home Office funding to support the creation of a violence reduction unit.

The money has been given to the elected head of the force, Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld, to slash knife crime figures in the region.