NORTH-EAST police officers have given a resounding NO to being armed with guns on Britain's streets.

They have backed a Police Federation survey that showed 78 per cent of officers did not want to carry guns on everyday duties.

The federation carried out the survey after Home Office figures showed that gun crime had soared by 35 per cent last year.

Chief Inspector Paul Rider, chairman of the Cleveland branch of the Police Federation said: "The public perception is of the traditional unarmed British bobby patrolling the streets and the results seem to bare that out in terms of the feelings of police in the 21st Century.

"While there are occasions when police officers need to carry firearms, the strength of feelings against that shows that the majority of officers would still prefer to carry out routine duties unarmed."

Three out of 10 officers said they had been threatened with a knife at least once in two years, but only 7.4 per cent had been threatened with a gun.

PC Dave Robinson, secretary of the Durham branch of the Police Federation, said there was a danger of "firearms breeding firearms".

"I don't think the case has been made at this stage for all officers to be armed," he said.

Lord Brian Mackenzie of Framwellgate, a former Home Office advisor, warned: "There's a danger we will end up like America where a large proportion of officers get murdered by their own weapons.

"We need to reduce the amount of firearms on the streets not increase them, provided we have people who can respond quickly to a serious incident."