A WEAPONS collector caught with swords and an air rifle in the back of his car told a court they were only there because he was moving house.

Police found the armaments when they searched Simon Gay's vehicle after pulling him over just yards away from his parents' home.

In the boot, wrapped up in heavy coats and a jacket, officers found:

A Samurai sword.

A Gurkha knife.

A foil-type fencing sword.

A diver's knife.

An air rifle with a pellet in its barrel.

However, magistrates believed his story and cleared him of possessing a knife, blade or pointed article in a public place without reasonable excuse.

After the case Mr Gay has called for a proper protocol for transferring weapons that are often collectors' items. He said: "This is an issue that does need to be looked at. I am a collector of these items and there must be many people who take things like this with them when they move house.

"There should be a proper protocol - a recognised procedure for the safe transportation of weapons which are often collectors' items.

"I am a keen collector and occasionally if I am out and about and I see an item that interests me I will buy it."

Mr Gay, 23, told New Forest magistrates he had decided to move out of his home in Hobart Drive, Hythe, after a disagreement with a flatmate.

After a brief stopover in Sholing, Southampton, he had been moving the weapons to his parents' home off Fawley Road, Hythe.

The court was not told the reason why police had stopped Mr Gay's car. It was said to be irrelevant to the case.

Mr Gay, a carpentry labourer, accepted the items were in his car but pleaded not guilty to the charge.

His solicitor, Abigail Larman, pointed out that he had been totally co-operative with the police and even showed them the items.

She told the court there had been a reasonable excuse for having them there.

The magistrates agreed and bench chairman Foster Herd told Mr Gay: "We believe you were moving the property to a place of greater safety."

He did admit to a separate offence of having a lock knife in his pocket and was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £35 costs.

Miss Larman said: "He scooped it up off a table with a quantity of change and it went into his pocket and he had forgotten it was there."