Owners of weapons including zombie knives and knuckledusters are being offered cash to hand them in to police as part of a government initiative to tackle violent crime. The Offensive Weapons Act, coming into force next year in England and Wales, will make it unlawful to possess certain types of rapid-firing rifles, knives and other items. Under a three-month scheme launched on Thursday, owners of the qualifying weapons will be able to claim compensation for surrendering them to police if the total value of the claim is more than £30. The list includes zombie knives – blades that can be up to 60cm long with a serrated edge and carry images or words that glamorise violence. It also includes knuckledusters, death star knives, flick knives, batons and disguised knives. A form available on the government’s website values a knuckleduster at £2, a zombie knife at £10, a blowpipe at £14 and a lever release .308 rifle at £5,105. The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on knife crime, deputy assistant commissioner Graham McNulty, said: “Tackling knife crime and reducing violence is a top priority for policing. The surrender scheme will enable us to remove dangerous weapons off the streets and assist in keeping our communities safe. Every weapon removed is possibly a life saved and I urge people to please help us make our streets safer.” The Offensive Weapons Act was introduced by the government in response to a rise in serious violence, including knife crime. As well as prohibiting the possession of dangerous weapons in private, it also made it a criminal offence to sell bladed products online without verifying that the buyer is aged over 18. The Prevention of Crime Act 1953 already prohibits the possession in any public place of an offensive weapon without lawful authority or excuse. The latest knife crime figures for England and Wales show there were 18,108 offences in the year to September, compared with 22,449 in the previous period. The number of crimes recorded in the second quarter of 2020, during the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, fell to 2,786, compared with 4,925 in the first three months of the year, Ministry of Justice data shows. This started to rise again between July and September, to 5,190. The crime and policing minister, Kit Malthouse, said: “We are prohibiting ownership of dangerous weapons which have a high potential for causing harm. Every item surrendered is one which can no longer fall into the hands of criminals.”