The college wants to deter youths from carrying knives

The College of North East London in Tottenham is among the first colleges to conduct scans using arches provided and manned by the Metropolitan Police.

A discarded knife was found in the grounds during the operation, carried out ahead of a national knife amnesty.

The college says it does not have a knife problem but wants to deter young people from carrying weapons.

'Young victims'

Principal Paul Head said: "It would be a real tragedy if we only did something after an incident.

"No one has been stabbed on site and one of the contributing factors is we have a strong working relationship with local police."

Haringey's borough commander, Chief Superintendant Simon O'Brien, said London was not following the example of New York, where metal detectors in schools are common.

He said: "New York has a separate set of circumstances. This initiative with this college is a key example of our partnerships and how we are getting messages out to young people.

"They are the victims of knife crime and are also often the people who are carrying knives."

National campaign

Met figures show 41% of offenders carrying out robberies with knives are aged between 15 and 18.

Nearly one in five victims of violent incidents involving knives are from the same age group.

The Met has 20 sets of mobile metal-detecting scanners which it uses for knife searches at stations, venues, festivals and schools on a short-term basis.