FARMERS and others who regularly use knives at work have been reassured by West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger that they will not be affected by a Government crackdown on knife crime.

Mr Liddell-Grainger, who will be standing for the Conservatives at the next General Election in the new Tiverton and Minehead constituency taking in much of the area around Wellington and nearby Mid Devon, was speaking on plans by Ministers for a ban in England and Wales of machetes and so-called zombie knives ‘with no practical use’.

The proposals were aimed at shutting legal loopholes and curbing violence.

Certain knives which were designed to look menacing and were not currently banned would be made illegal under the plans.

The Home Office has announced a public consultation on increasing maximum penalties for their possession and sale.

Plans to control the sale and use of such knives were first tabled in 2016 during the premiership of Theresa May, but now an alarming rise in knife crime has moved the subject back to the top of the agenda.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he welcomed any move to make the streets safer and reduce the toll of death and injury caused by knife attacks.

He said: “At the same time we have to make a clear distinction between knives which are carried purely for an illegal purpose and machetes and long-bladed knives used by farmers, countryside workers, and those in the catering sector.

“I am happy to say the Government has made it clear these measures are not going to curb the sale of knives which are to be used legitimately in the course of anybody’s normal work.”