Alarming figures show there is a knife crime almost every day in Lancashire.

There were 345 crimes involving blades in 2015, including five murders and five attempted murders, according to figures obtained from Lancashire Police under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figures come after 12 months of disturbing knife related incidents across the Fylde.

They include the murder of Marci Pawlow from Poland, who was stabbed in the hip, leg and shoulder on Central Drive in the resort in December.

Detectives have charged Daniel Sobisz, 34, of no fixed address, and proceedings are ongoing.

Similarly, a man accused of murdering a St Annes businessman and dad-of-three Ian Dollery, who was found with multiple stab wounds outside his three-bedroom home in June, is subject to court proceedings.

Robert Andrew Kay, 48, is accused of killing Mr Dollery, 51, on York Road and is being held at a psychiatric unit.

The same month two men were charged with attempted murder after a brawl at the Pier Jam dance music event on Blackpool’s North Pier, attended by around 2,000 people.

A 23-year-old from Manchester was taken to Royal Preston Hospital with a number of stab wounds along with a 30-year-old man from Bradford and a 15-year-old boy from Manchester.

Luke Sandlan, 26, and Elliott Sandlan, 20, both of Boddington Road, Eccles, Manchester are now subject to court proceedings over the allegations – one count of attempted murder and two counts of wounding with intent.

And in August Samantha Simcox, 30, of Central Drive, Blackpool, stabbed her friend’s partner when he threatened to burn their houses down in a row over a family pet. She was jailed for 14 months after admitting wounding and possessing a blade, following her attacking the victim with a kitchen knife outside the home he shared with his partner in Taunton Street, Blackpool.

These cases form part of a worrying statistic – Lancashire’s 345 tally of knife crimes last year, revealed in figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

They show five cases of attempted murder also involved a knife, with a further 113 involved in woundings.

Blades were used in 213 assaults – 110 of which resulted in an injury.

Knives were also a feature of five kidnappings and two cases of cruelty to children.

One would hope such cases highlight the dangers of carrying and using blades – but in 2015, 119 people were arrested for carrying a blade in public in Lancashire.

Lancashire Constabulary has joined forces with the ground-breaking national anti-knife crime campaign ‘Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife’, a national initiative to raise awareness of knife crime and encourage the surrender of dangerous weapons.

The British Ironwork 
Centre, which is coordinating the project, intends to use knives handed into police to create a 20 feet high guardian angel sculpture in memory of those whose lives have been lost.

Knife bins at locations across Lancashire in an amnesty last year, including job centres, community centres and leisure centres yielded over 3,000 knives for the project and although the bins have now been removed, people can hand in any knife at any police station with a front counter.

A police spokeswoman said: “As these figures show the consequences of carrying a knife can be potentially devastating to both victims and their families.

“A knife is a lethal weapon and just being in possession of one in a public place is a criminal offence, with the exception of small folding pocket knives.

“Some people think carrying a knife protects them but they could end up hurting someone or being hurt themselves.

“The maximum prison sentence for carrying a knife is four years, but if you use the knife in a crime or to injure someone the penalties are a lot worse.

“If you are concerned about knife crime please call us on 101 or contact us via our website.”