Campaigners say blunt knives could tackle knife crime 'epidemic'
It's being backed by a Staffordshire chef as a step forward
There are calls for a total ban on pointed and potentially lethal kitchen knives being sold in shops and supermarkets.
It's after the government announced extra measures to tackle knife crime with the national police lead saying it is sometimes harder to buy paracetamol than it is to buy a knife.
The Home Office plans include making retailers report bulk or suspicious sales to police, and increasing the jail sentence for selling weapons to children, or illegal blades such as zombie knives, to two years.
This comes on top of proposals already announced to make knife buyers show photo ID at both sale and delivery.
The proposals do not include measures, highlighted by actor and anti-knife crime campaigner Idris Elba, for a ban on pointed ends on kitchen knives.
Staffordshire Michelin star chef Tom Shepherd said blunt knives could be a good step forward to tackling the issue.
"I think if we were to concentrate on blunt home knives and blunt knives that are available in supermarkets that would be a better stance, and maybe bringing in some licence for professional chefs.
"Cooks knives on sale in some retailers for two quid, it renders it pointless to actually do its job. It wouldn't even be sharp enough to do its job like properly dice an onion, but when it's used with force, that's when that knife becomes a completely different tool.
"A lot of people get confused the actual cooks knife is the actual shape of a knife. I would safe that is completely unnecessary in the home as that could kill somebody.
"So, if it's blunt or another shape with no sharpened end and no point, that could save lives."
A consultation will be held later in the year on whether online retailers should have to register in order to be able to sell knives.