METAL detectors are to be used at main line railway stations in the region to cut down on knife crime.

British Transport Police are touring stations with the walk-through sensors to deter people carrying weapons when they travel.

They were in Newcastle yesterday and will visit Durham, Darlington and York as part of Operation Shield.

Police said they scanned 378 people for weapons and arrested a man from London.

The scheme was piloted in London in February, when officers also arrested a number of people for carrying drugs.

The detectors are portable, so will be moved to problem areas to target criminals.

Chief Inspector Terry Nicholson, of the British Transport Police, said: "Our aim is to make the railway environment safer and free from disruption and fear of crime and intimidation. This initiative will serve as a tool to achieve that.

"Passengers' reaction to the scheme throughout the rest of the country have been very positive in the fact that they welcome the moves we are taking to challenge knife culture."

Police have run Operation Shield at stations in the North-West and Birmingham over the past six weeks.

More than 10,000 people have passed through the detectors, 1,034 people have been searched, 48 were arrested for weapons offences, and 104 were arrested for other offences.

Sixty-eight weapons have been confiscated and 85 people were arrested for drugs offences.

Due to its success, Operation Shield is being extended across the country.

Officials from independent rail consumer watchdog Passenger Focus welcomed the scheme, but said it must not interfere with people being able to catch trains on time.

Spokesman Jane Cobell said: "We welcome anything that reassures passengers they are safe while using the railway network, providing it does not get in the way of them being able to use it.

"Airports have a one-hour check-in time, whereas train stations are more turn-up-and-go, and we have to preserve that."