Hundreds of replica and ball bearing guns have been handed in to police after an amnesty was announced in November.

More than 400 weapons have been surrendered after Thames Valley Police offered youngsters music vouchers in exchange for handing in replica guns.

The amnesty was part of an operation by the force to cut the number of false alarms and serious crimes involving fake weapons or ball-bearing guns.

The force says replica guns can be extremely difficult to distinguish from real weapons - yet all crimes that are reported to involve guns have to be treated as real firearm incidents.

'Terrifying threat'

This often wastes valuable police resources if the gun later turns out to be fake.

Although imitation guns are not illegal, a police spokesman said: "Being threatened with a replica gun is just as terrifying as being threatened with a real gun.

"It is treated very seriously in the courts with sentences of up to 10 years."

Children were offered �10 vouchers to spend in a music store if they hand in the guns between 18 November and 8 December.