HC Deb 26 October 1994 vol 248 cc632-3W
Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the total seizures of illegal firearms for each port of entry for each month since January 1992.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

Customs do not hold central statistics for seizures of weapons that can be broken down in this way. Such figures could be produced only at disproportionate cost. However, the table sets out the number of detections of illegal weapons by Customs and Excise per collection—regional command—for each quarter since 1 April 1993.

Collection Number of detections
30 June 1993 30 September 1993 31 December 1993 31 March 1994 30 June 1994 30 September 1994 Total
Northern England 4 2 — 1 — — 7
Southhampton 10 16 — 11 26 13 76
South Wales and Borders 7 1 6 7 1 — 22
South West England 2 2 2 2 3 10 21
Thames Valley — — — 1 3 2 6
Total detections 70 135 43 98 123 150 619
Total firearms seized1 2,214 3,045 1,734 170 220 2,190 9,573
1Firearms includes: handguns, rifles, shotguns, gas canisters and stun guns.