SCORES of guns were handed in to Sussex police stations during a national amnesty.

The force reported that 82 items were surrendered in East Sussex and Brighton, while 79 were handed in in West Sussex.

Police say weapons seized included rifles, pistols, revolvers, and shotguns.

Guns which could be linked to crimes will be held in a database, but the police say no such weapons have been handed in.

Meanwhile weapons of historic interest may be handed to museums.

The rest are destroyed.

It follows the amnesty launched by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (Nabis) from July 20 to August 4.

Detective Chief Inspector Vanessa Britton said: In our view, every weapon surrendered is another weapon off our streets which could potentially cause harm.

“Some of the items handed in included war trophies and weapons discovered during house clearances, for example.

“After being individually examined, all of the weapons are destroyed, unless they are of historical or significant interest, in which case they may be retained by NABIS for museums.

“Any guns which can be proved to be linked to crime will be kept as evidence for any future court proceedings, however we have identified no such circumstances to date with this campaign.

“While crimes involving firearms are extremely rare, we recognise that these weapons could be lethal if in the wrong hands.

“I’d like to thank everyone who came forward as part of this campaign and surrendered any unwanted or illegal firearms they had.”