POUNDLAND has banned the sale of kitchen knives across the UK in response to the crime wave hitting the country.

The retailer stopped selling the weapons in London last week and is set to extend the ban to all 850 of its UK and Ireland stores by the end of the year.

4 Poundland is thought to be the first UK retailer to ban the sale of knives completely Credit: PA:Press Association

The move follows 35 people being fatally stabbed in London since the beginning of the year as violence in the capital spikes.

Austin Cook Poundland's retail director said: "We have committed to take knives out of all our stores, starting with London, which we have done with immediate effect a couple of weeks ago, and we will take them out of the rest of the country by October.

"Since I've come into my role we have had a lot of feedback from our store colleagues that we are retailing knives that can have the wrong ultimate purpose for them.

"We want to take them off our shelves and take them out of the hands of the wrong customers and, whilst there is a sales implication for us, it's much more important to us to protect both our colleagues and our customers from any risk.

4 The move follows a spike in stabbings in the capital since the beginning of the year Credit: Alamy

"We know it’s the right thing to do and hope other retailers will join us."

The move has been welcomed by campaigners and the families of stabbing victims.

Gaynor Bell, whose son Steffan was stabbed to death in 2000, said: “I think Poundland is a store that a lot of young people go to and for them to stop selling knives is a step in the right direction.

“Hopefully other stores will take this on board and do the same thing.

4 Kitchen knives are no longer on sale in London in a bid to curb the rise in stabbings Credit: Alamy

“Any little bit helps, anything at all that can keep knives off the streets and stop more families going through the horrendous feeling of losing one of their loved ones.”

However other campaigners feel the move should have come earlier.

Crime researcher Emilia Gill, from JAGS foundation, added: “Something like this should have happened a long time ago and we wouldn’t have lost so many lives if stuff like this had started moving many years ago.

“I think it’s a good start but I don’t think it’s going to solve everything.

4 Kitchen knives will be taken out of all 850 Poundland stores across UK and Ireland Credit: Poundland

“The problem with knives is that you can always find somewhere to access them.

“So even though Poundland has decided to do this, and it’s a brilliant start, you can just walk down the street to another shop and buy a knife that is virtually the same.

“It’s a good start to hopefully something that will be a much bigger movement in the grand scheme of things.

“To move away from advertising knives in windows to banning completely, it’s definitely a move in the right direction but it’s only a pin point in a much bigger picture.

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“It’s good but it’s almost slightly too late to start this kind of ripple.”

The JAGS foundation works with those affected by violent crimes and was set up by Tracy Ford after her son James was knifed to death in 2007.

Poundland are thought to be the first UK retailer to go to a full ban on kitchen knives.