A regional daily’s anti-knife campaign which was launched after a fatal stabbing in the town has led to the unveiling of a new metal detecting scanner to be used at local nightspots.

The Burton Mail launched its Safer Burton initiative earlier this year in partnership with the mother of 21-year-old Connor Upton, who was stabbed outside a Burton nightclub.

Now the young daughters of Connor, Destynne and Kirstynne, have helped unveil the mobile metal detecting scanner which will be used to check customers entering venues in the town – to ensure they are not carrying knives.

The unveiling of the scanner took place at Burton and South Derbyshire College, below, where students have backed the campaign by designing posters for distribution to town centre pubs and clubs, and a ‘Safer Burton’ logo which has been printed on T-shirts.

The move marks a success for the Safer Burton steering committee which is chaired by editor Kevin Booth and includes campaign reporter Katie Bowler.

Kevin said: “The launch is a big milestone for us after months of hard work behind the scenes.

“We believe buying the scanner will save lives and makes Burton one of – if not the first – town to have a device owned by the community rather than individual businesses. The plan is to raise funds for more.”

And Connor’s mother Yvonne said she believes her son would still be alive if one of the metal-detecting archways had been used in the town when he was stabbed.

She said: “In my eyes if a scanner had been on the nightclub door where Connor was killed, it never would have happened.”

Money for the scanner came from the Staffordshire Local Community Fund and Burton’s Joint Operations Group, headed by East Staffordshire Borough Council.