Hampshire police today launched a crackdown on fake fire arms.

Called "Fake Gun, Real Trouble" the campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying an imitation or toy weapon.

It also asks people to consider the difficulty in distinguishing between what is fake and what is real.

The six-month drive will start with visits to schools but will also include an amnesty and a poster and leaflet campaign asking retailers to stop selling fake weapons.

The problem is on the increase. In April this year, armed response teams were deployed to nine different incidents following reports of people carrying guns, more than double the number of incidents during the same month last year.

The campaign will begin at a school in Portsmouth this morning and then be rolled out across the county.

In coming months an amnesty will offer people the chance to hand over their fake weapons.

The Violent Crime Reduction Act, which is currently being phased in, will soon make it illegal to sell such items in shops, and officers will be visiting shopkeepers to ask them to withdraw fake guns from sale.