More than 43,000 guns were handed in during the amnesty

A total of �1.5m will be allocated to those English regions worst affected by gun crime, said Home Office minister Caroline Flint.

The major hot spots are London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham, she said.

The anti-gun charity the Disarm Trust will also receive �300,000 to help fight the spread of guns at a grass roots level.

Who gets what London - �400,000 The Disarm Trust - �300,000 North West - �200,000 West Midlands - �200,000 South East - �100,000 Yorks & Humber - �75,000 East Midlands - �75,000 East of England - �75,000 South West - �75,000

Ms Flint said: "I am very pleased that these ill-gotten gains will be used to support victims and cut gun crime.

"Gun crime has a devastating effect on our communities, and has moved down the criminal hierarchy.

"Young people, almost always men, and often linked to gangs, petty crime and illegal drugs, increasingly carry guns as a means of gaining respect," she added.

The Birmingham rally was organised by the Black United Front

On Saturday, thousands of people attended a rally in Birmingham aimed at highlighting what the organisers described as an "epidemic" of gun crime in the West Midlands.

The Black United Front - which organised the famous Million Man March in Washington DC eight years ago - organised the demonstration in the city's Victoria Square.

The event is a forerunner to a mass rally in London's Trafalgar Square scheduled for October.

Olusola Muhammad, one of the organisers, said: "We want to deal with the issues of black-on-black killing and stop the violence."

A recent gun amnesty in spring took in over 43,000 guns and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition - almost double what was received in the 1996 amnesty.