Nearly half of all young people have been directly affected by knife crime, according to new research. More than 80 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are also not convinced plans making it harder to buy zombie blades and machetes will reduce crime whilst, seven in ten believe the national approach to tackling youth violence over the past decade has failed.

Despite legislation aimed at making purchasing knives more difficult, they believed young people would find alternative ways to buy them, around 71 per cent view knife crime as a societal issue, as well as a criminal one, while two-thirds believe there is too much emphasis based on the violence itself, rather than the root causes.

The study was commissioned by the Kiyan Prince Foundation, named after the 15-year-old footballer fatally stabbed while trying to stop a fight outside his north London school in 2006.