The cannon fires two-and-a-half inch cannonballs

The camouflage-coloured cannon, which is on wheels and fires two-and-a-half inch cannonballs, was handed in to Castle Vale police station, on Monday.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "This is probably the strangest item we have had so far.

"But it is good to see people still bringing things in towards the end of the amnesty."

During the month-long project, which ends on Wednesday, more than 1,000 weapons have been handed in anonymously into the West Midlands force, including a rocket launcher.

Officers have been encouraging people possessing illegal firearms as well as replica and blank-firing guns to hand them into police stations without fear of reprisal.

The amnesty was launched at the beginning on April by the mothers of teenagers Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare, who were shot dead in Aston in January.