A kitchen knife and Stanley blades are among the weapons confiscated from pupils in Aberdeen in the last few years.

New figures, reported by The Times, were described as being evidence that there is an “epidemic of violence” in schools across Scotland.

The freedom of information request data showed that butterfly knives, a machete and a knuckle duster were among the items taken from pupils.

More than 400 weapons were confiscated from pupils in 16 councils with teachers in Aberdeen taking Stanley-knife blades used by an S1 pupil.

A 10cm kitchen knife was taken from an S3 pupil in the city with smashed pieces of a Christmas bauble confiscated by children in a primary five class. Razor blades were also brought from home in one incident.

The Times reported that Aberdeen has been “central” for calls to crack down on weapons in schools since the death of Bailey Gwynne in 2015.

The Cults Academy pupil was stabbed to death by his classmate, Daniel Stroud, who was jailed for nine years in 2016. He claimed he brought weapons to school because he was “just trying to be cool”.

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