There were 53 incidents this year as opposed to 23 last year - well above the rise across Northern Ireland as a whole.

The figues were revealed in as the Police Service re-launched their knife awareness advertising campaign across Northern Ireland in an effort to highlight the consequences and dangers of carrying a knife.

Last year there were 1,062 knife related crimes in Northern Ireland as opposed to 968 reported the previous year.

The campaign will include cinema, radio and adshel advertising across Northern Ireland targets young males in the high-risk age11-18 group and will run throughout the summer.

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said: "Knife crime and a series of tragic events involving knives have been well documented recently. We hope that with the re-launch of this campaign we can help tackle the scourge of knife crime on our streets and in our communities and discourage young people from carrying knives. Our message is clear – never carry a knife - knives take lives.

"Those caught carrying a knife for unlawful reasons will be prosecuted.

However, as part of this campaign we want to prevent people from carrying knives in the first place rather than having to enforce the law when the situation arises.

ACC McCausland concluded: "Knife crime is unacceptable and has left too many families devastated in Northern Ireland. These measures will help tackle the problem in Northern Ireland and I call on everyone to give the campaign their full support, particularly parents as they have a key part to play in informing their children about the dangers of carrying knives and the devastation knife crime can bring".

mary.magee@jpress.co.uk