It’s your last chance to hand in your unwanted guns and ammunition to police before a national surrender ends this weekend.

“We want as many weapons as possible and would encourage people to hand them in,” Michelle Mounsey, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said.

“If you know where a weapon is being kept illegally, now is your chance to give up the gun, or tell us anonymously where it is.

“You will not be prosecuted, and you could save a life.

“One weapon taken out of potential circulation is one less that can be used to harm or threaten our communities.”

Police say many weapons are held in innocence with people not realising they are illegal.

Others are simply overlooked or forgotten in people’s homes.

These could be shotguns or rifles with expired licences or handguns brought back from the First and Second World War.

Outside of the surrender period, you could receive a mandatory five-year prison sentence for possessing an unlicensed firearm.

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Because of Devon and Cornwall’s rural nature there are more people with firearms certificates here than there are in any other force area in England and Wales, and yet in terms of crime, the force area is one of the safest.

“I’d urge anyone who may have an unlicensed firearm to use this amnesty to get rid of it so they can be safe in the knowledge that it will never be used in a crime.”

At the end of the last firearms surrender in 2017, 569 firearms of various types and over 20,000 rounds of ammunition were handed into police.

All ten police enquiry offices in Devon and Cornwall are taking part in the surrender and the public are advised to check locations and opening times before transporting items.

Check opening times here: https://bit.ly/315XxIg.

Nothing should be left outside a police station if it is closed.

For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/2Zs8ZOa.

The national amnesty ends on Sunday, August 4.