Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has vowed to make Wales a no-go area for Britain's growing gun culture.

He has met the country's four chief constables to discuss what measures are in place to halt the rise of gun-wielding gangs.

We have officers on duty 24-hours a day who have access to firearms Chief Supt Neil Jellings

Cardiff has been included in a National Criminal Intelligence Service report which claims armed Albanian gangs are running organised crime rings on the streets of major British cities.

South Wales Police has also warned of turf wars with Jamaican drug barons based in Bristol.

One person dies every week of heroin or cocaine abuse in Wales and the dealers trying to peddle their wares are often armed.

Awareness of the growing gun culture is heightening in the wake of the shootgings in Birmingham which left two teenage girls dead.

Mr Hain has backed moves for an automatic five-year jail term for those caught with guns.

He said: "You can never be complacent.

Police will welcome changes to gun laws

"We've not experienced the dreadful episodes that have happened in England, but we're determined that Wales remains a no-go area for this kind of gang-run gun law."

Last July, Cardiff teenager Amie Miles was shot dead in her bed-sit.

A man is currently awaiting trial charged with her murder.

Even so, South Wales Police is downplaying the scale of the gun problem.

Chief Superintendent Neil Jellings said: "There is no evidence of any large escalation of gun crime in south Wales.

"We're certainly prepared - we have officers on duty 24-hours a day who have access to firearms on the authority of a superintendent and we will use those means to protect the public of south Wales."

Martin Bale: Runs a Cardiff gun store

Police in some parts of Britain claim there is also a trend for converting air pistols to fire live ammunition.

But Martin Bale who runs a gun shop in Cardiff said that it did not make sense as it was cheaper to buy real guns on the black market.

"The police state quite freely that pistols can be bought at prices no more than ordinary air pistols, so there seems to be little point in converting them if that is the case."