A RIFLE that would not have looked out of place in the First World War, a sniper rifle-like air gun and an AK-47 were among the fearsome weapons handed in during Wiltshire Police’s two week gun surrender.

For Insp Paul Saunders, the man in charge of armed policing for the force, the fact the weapons are in the force’s stores or destroyed means the potentially lethal arms aren’t in the hands of Wiltshire’s criminals.

More than 34 guns had been handed in, together with a flare, a dozen items of ammunition and 82 knives.

“A lot of what has been handed in is what we would have expected, the sort of things someone’s found if they’re clearing out the loft or a relative’s shed,” he told the Adver.

“You find it and you’re at a loss about what to do with it, you think what on earth am I going to do with this?

“This week, for example, we had a 1916 Mauser rifle handed in. It still looks like it’s in working order. It’s still got the bolt on it.

“That’s what this surrender is there for. It’s for those sorts of weapons and for people who are unsure of the legality of them.”

As well as First World War rifles and pistols, police officers had been presented with an air gun made to look like are lethal sniper rifle.

Insp Saunders said: “We’ve had quite a lot of airguns. Of course, an air weapon can be legally owned. Ultimately, we won’t want them to get into the hands of someone who wants to use the weapon for criminal purposes.”

Imitation weapons, air guns and deactivated firearms could all be used by criminals to intimidate or cajole victims, the inspector added: “There are numerous offences related to possession of imitation firearms.”

“If a member of the public had seen someone walking along the street with that sniper rifle airgun it would have caused a certain amount of fear.

“The only police response we have to that incident is a firearms one. Until a firearms officer has that weapon in their hands we don’t know it’s not a genuine firearm.”

The difficulty in telling the difference between a genuine and an imitation firearms or air guns made to look like more dangerous weapons was brought home last year.

In January, armed officers were scrambled to Manchester Road, Broadgreen, after a security guard spotted a man walking back from town carrying what appeared to be a gun but later turned out to be a water pistol. Eyewitnesses described hearing the man shouting at the heavily armed police units: “I’ve got a water pistol in the bedroom.”

In March, James Gowland was jailed for two years and 10 months for armed robbery. The 31-year-old had raided an Ermin Street cornershop armed with a handgun, but the weapon ended up being used against him. A group of men, including a former soldier, spotted Gowland threatening the store owner and went to confront him, wrestling the imitation pistol from his hands.

While the possession of imitation firearms is not illegal, carrying them about in a public place could be depending upon the circumstances.

Stratton St Margaret man Louie Dee appeared before the courts charged with possession of class A drugs and a pair of Tasers. However, he faced no criminal charges in relation to imitation firearms stored in cabinets at his home. The court was told Dee, then 27, was a collector.

Figures show Wiltshire had proportionally the highest increase in gun-related crime of any police force in the country. Reports jumped from 10 in the 12 months to March 2017 to 39 the following year - the equivalent of 290 per cent.

The firearms surrender finishes tomorrow. Weapons can be handed in to Salisbury and Swindon police stations between 9am and 1pm today, Saturday, August 3.