A KNIFE crime campaigner has called for detention centres to be set up to get suspects off the streets.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced an extra £100 million is to be made available to police forces over the course of the next year as part of his Spring Budget Statement.

He said the money will “pay for additional overtime targeted specifically on knife crime” and new Violent Crime Reduction Units.

Caroline Shearer founded anti-knife charity Only Cowards Carry after her son, Jay Whiston, 17, was stabbed to death outside a house party in Colchester in 2012.

She called for the Government to build detention centres in every county to ensure those arrested on suspicion of knife crime are not released on bail.

She said: “We really need some sort of detention centre. They are only three or four cells available here.

“If they get a gang of 30 people, where are they going to put them?

“There needs to be a holding detention centre in every county and suspects should be held until they can be dealt with by a court.

“We don’t want them out on bail and on the streets within 24 hours of being arrested.

“The politicians are just talking while people are being killed.

“They need to stop talking and take action.”

Mrs Shearer called for extra cash to be made available from for additional “bobbies on the beat” on top of paying overtime.

She said: “£100 million seems like a lot of money, but it is not.

“They need to employ full-time policemen so there are more boots on the ground.

“We don’t want shattered policemen still working after their shift has ended doing another one.

“We need more visibility in town from the police.

“The politicians still have no backbone and the justice system just isn’t there.

“Four years ago, they said there would be a minimum sentence for carrying a knife twice, but that’s never been implemented.

“They need to concentrate on our streets.”

The funding follows a surge in knife crime across the country.

In Essex there was a 35 per cent increase in violent offences for the 12 months to the end of January with 54,064 offences compared with 40,032 the previous year.

The number of police officers in England and Wales fell by more than 20,000 since 2010 although Essex is now set to see a boost in numbers following a council tax rise.