WILTSHIRE police are calling for firearms to be handed over as part of a national amnesty to help rid the streets of illegal guns.

The amnesty runs to April 30 across the country. The Home Office initiative has won the unreserved support of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

As well as prohibited, unlicensed and unwanted firearms, the police are encouraging people to hand in air weapons, BB guns and replica guns.

Police say these guns look so realistic they fear that this may lead to a fatal shooting by one of their armed response units.

Air weapons can also cause injury and even death, as well as creating a nuisance in communities.

During the six months from October 2002 and March 2003, police control rooms in Wiltshire received reports of 142 firearms incidents, of which 65 per cent related to BB guns or air weapons.

A Wiltshire police spokesman said: "The possession of firearms, replica firearms and air weapons is an extremely serious matter, and we cannot stress enough the importance of public support for this amnesty."

The amnesty comes ahead of tough new sentences for illegal possession of prohibited firearms, with a minimum five-year sentence for those convicted.

During the amnesty, people will be able to hand in firearms and ammunition to the police without being prosecuted for illegal possession of a gun.

Wiltshire's last gun amnesty took place in 1996, when more than 800 weapons and 2.5 tonnes of ammunition were handed in.

Every year the police destroy between 500 and 700 firearms through standard surrender procedures.