A KNIFE amnesty in a North-East city has been hailed a success.

A total of 162 weapons, including a samurai sword and a 12-in dagger, were handed over to police in Sunderland over the last three months of last year.

The father of a local man stabbed to death by yobs wants further deterrents to stop knife-crime despite the recent amnesty success.

John Johnson, whose son Kevin was murdered outside his Pennywell home in 2007, said: "There should be more deterrents to go hand in hand with the knife amnesties.

"Of course, there are people who have to carry knives as part of their job such as joiners and carpenters.

"But there are others who are carrying knives on the streets at night, drunk and looking for trouble."

The 58-year-old taxi driver, from Ryhope, Sunderland, added: "If you had tougher sentences for people who are caught carrying knives without a good reason, then that would make an even bigger difference.

"The police are doing their best to tackle this problem and I applaud them for that. But the good people hand them in, the villains keep hold of them."

Police said 87 knives were handed in at the city's central police station, Gill Bridge, 52 at Southwick, 12 at Farringdon Hall and nine at Washington.

Chief Superintendent Dave Pryer said: "By working with the National Tackling Knives Action Programme to prevent the carrying of knives via education, prevention and enforcement activity, a substantial amount of potential weapons are now off the streets of Sunderland.

"We will continue to work tirelessly and take robust action to rid our streets of any type of weapon, whether it be a knife or firearm, which could potentially be used in crime."