WILTSHIRE police are urging parents not to let their children play with replica or ball-bearing guns, after an increase in the number of cases where armed units have been called to deal with young people brandishing realistic-looking weapons.

Officers in neighbouring Dorset dealt with three incidents last weekend alone, where terrified members of the public reported children playing with firearms that appeared real.

The force said there was no way of knowing if the guns were fake and therefore a full armed response unit had to be deployed, putting the lives of the young people in danger.

In a countywide guns amnesty earlier this year, 533 of the 574 guns handed in were imitation firearms, which, although not illegal, can be very dangerous.

"If a child asks for one of these guns, we want parents to think long and hard about whether this is the sort of thing they want them to be playing with," said Wiltshire police spokesperson Jacqui Broadbridge.

"They look so realistic that most people would never know they were fake.

"The guns are highly dangerous - the ball-bearings could blind someone but they could also result in the person holding the gun being shot.

"If officers think they are dealing with a situation where a weapon will be used, then they have no choice but to disable the person holding it."

In recent months, Salisbury's police force has been called to two incidents of troublemakers wielding ball-bearing guns.

"On one occasion, it was a juvenile who had got hold of the gun," said David Taylor, of Salisbury Police.

"The situation was very serious and the gun was confiscated."

Although the current law states that owning replica guns is not illegal, using them in public is an offence.

The police hope parents will realise the potential tragedy they could cause and hand them in before it is too late.

"They are not suitable as toys and can be taken to any police station, where they will be disposed of safely," added Miss Broadbridge.

"They are dangerous and could result in an even worse situation if they got into the wrong hands and were used by criminals."

Head of Dorset police's operations division Chief Superintendant David Burgess, whose team was called to two cases in 20 minutes, said the public needed to be aware of the consequences of buying such guns.

"Ball-bearing guns can't kill you but they could get you killed," he said.

"Armed officers can't assume that what appears to be a firearm might be a replica, because their lives and possibly others are at stake.

"The guns should never be used in a public place where members of the public can see them."