A FIREARMS amnesty will be held in Wales in a bid to crack down on gun crime.

All four police forces will take part in the month-long campaign, announced by the Home Office.

Gwent Police chief constable Keith Turner was due today to speak on behalf of all Welsh forces in urging people to make the country a safer place to live and visit.

The amnesty will run from March 31 to April 30. It is part of an extensive Home Office campaign to tackle gun crime in the UK. Changes in legislation will also be introduced with offenders targeted more effectively.

Communities, and in particular youngsters, will be educated against becoming involved with guns.

Ahead of the launch the chief constable said: "Gun crime is rising so we are now giving people the opportunity to surrender their firearms, when during the period of the Amnesty there will be no prosecution."

The Amnesty comes ahead of the introduction of tough new sentences for the illegal possession of firearms.