FIVE GUNS are among the hundreds of knives dumped in a bin at a church in Clapton.

Samurai swords were also collected at the amnesty drop-off point, which is in a part of Hackney that suffered heavily in the London-wide mass looting of August 2011.

The bin, placed at the rear of  St-John-at-Hackney by Word 4 Weapons, has received thousands of weapons since its installation.

Think of what could still be on the street next time you are tempted to suggest to a Londoner that he or she might wish to pick up some just-dropped litter. You might also consider the Home Office claim that 1 in 4 British men has a criminal conviction.

The church, St-John-at-Hackney, asks knife-discarders to apply for an All I Need bag, which contains a Bible, DVDs, Crimestoppers details “and much more” (in the publicity’s churchy words). St John’s vicar, Father Rob Wickham, said that three bags were given out.

Michael Smith, the charity’s founder, told Loving Dalston: “Most of the weapons are destroyed or recycled to help to fund an award known as a Key Award.” An annual event was held (details below) at which members of the public could nominate others for an award.

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* The next Word 4 Weapons Key Awards event will be held at St Mark’s church, 337 Kennington Park Road, Kennington SE11 4PW on Wed 1 Oct 2014.

* Backstory: Thousand-plus knives given up 

* Crimestoppers (0800 555 111), anonymous online form

* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which the URL refers has not been maintained.