Art and design students are transforming hundreds of knives handed into the police into a sculpture.

The cutting edge project saw young people transform hundreds of knives surrendered to Cleveland Police from the streets of Teesside into a sculpture to raise awareness of knife crime.

Inspired by the Knife Angel, a 27ft sculpture, made from 10,000 discarded knives and confiscated weapons from police forces across the country, art students from Stockton Riverside College are now drawing up designs for their own smaller-scale project.

Engineering students and apprentices at Stockton-based NETA Training will help make those designs a reality.

Brandon Crosby, student at the college, said: “The engineering team didn’t want us to just draw the designs, they wanted us to get a feel for the work that will go into making the sculpture.

“When you design something as an art student you see it is a picture on a piece of paper, but going to NETA and seeing how the machines work, makes you realise the work going into it, which is incredible.”

Natalie Wooff, art student, said: “It is nice to be involved in a project that will be around for a long time and has a strong message behind it. We believe the sculpture itself will shock people because of how many knives there are and the thought that they have all come from this area, and those are just the ones that have been handed in.”

NETA’s Head of Department for Engineering, David Laycock, said: “It was important for the art students to understand the demands of working with metal and the skill involved from our engineering team.”

Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger played a lead role in bringing the Knife Angel to Cleveland last summer. He has been working since to cement the sculpture’s legacy by investing in initiatives to educate young people about the dangers of knife crime and divert them from criminal behaviour.