Airport-style metal detectors are to be deployed at train stations in Sussex for the first time.

British Transport Police is to launch a crackdown on knives and other dangerous weapons across West Sussex in March.

The operation will last for about a week, taking in Brighton, Worthing, Horsham and Crawley, although police said locations were still being discussed.

Groups of up to 20 officers will descend on stations with sniffer dogs and undercover cops in an attempt to find criminals and fare-evaders.

Inspector Gary Ancell, of Brighton BTP, said: "There is no specific intelligence but it is known that youths do carry knives or other weapons.

"These types of operations let people know that it is not an acceptable way of behaving to carry weapons and we will take them to court.

"There are still lots of youths who think it's okay to carry knives, some with the pretence that it is for their own protection."

He added that the use of high-visibility policing would also help reassure commuters.

In a one-day sting in Luton last year, the BTP found 90 weapons, including 57 knives, a Taser, knuckledusters, four CS and pepper spray canisters and batons.

A spokeswoman for the BTP London South team, which guards trains and stations in Sussex, said the force had concentrated much of its metal-detector use on south London stations, where knife carrying and robberies are more common.

She said: "Robberies are extremely rare in Sussex but it is an issue and there are cases of it happening.

"It is not happening every single day but we have been finding five weapons a week on the railways nationally.

"People who need to be carrying knives, like chefs, will be allowed to carry on their journey because they have a valid reason."

The metal detectors could also be brought back for major events in the county, such as Pride in Brighton, according to the spokeswoman.

In a year, Operation Shield has seen more than 50,000 people pass through the scanners and almost 500 arrests, half for offensive weapons.

Last October, The Argus revealed that while crime was falling at Brighton Station - Portslade, Aldrington, Hove, Preston Park, Moulsecoomb and London Road stations had recorded an increase in crime compared to the year before.

Liberal Democrat councillors in Brighton and Hove, who have conducted a survey of train passengers, also believe safety is travellers biggest fear.