An anti-knives campaign from the Reading Evening Post has culminated at No10 Downing Street.

The paper’s campaign calls for the Government to increase sentences for the possession and use of a knife.

It also wants to improve the education of young people about the dangers of carrying a weapon.

The petition was handed over by envoys of the paper’s Knives cost Lives campaign in the same week as a 20-year-old was sentenced for two knife murders.

More than 3,000 people have added their names to the petition, which has been backed by Reading MP Rob Wilson.

He said: “The petition is the culmination of 18 months’ work. It is designed to keep the issue in the public’s mind.

“We do get high profile cases, but in between these times we need to keep these issues on the ministers’ desks.”