PUPILS at a Bolton secondary school were given a hands-on lesson on the dangers of weapons.

Police officers from Greater Manchester's Tactical Firearms Unit took a selection of imitation weapons to Mount St Joseph in Greenland Road, Farnworth.

Year Eight children were given a talk on the dangers of fake firearms and how difficult it is to distinguish between a real and replica gun. From the collection, the pupils were asked to say which they thought were real guns -- and were shocked to find they were all fakes.

The pupils were also shown a video of how terrifying replica guns can be.

They were shown two youths captured on CCTV waving fake weapons at members of the public in Manchester town centre. Shocked passersby were seen diving for cover because they did not know the guns were imitation and the two teenagers were eventually wrestled to the ground by police officers.

Others schools in the town will be visited as part of the scheme.

Joshua Berry, aged 12, said: "It is the first time I have ever seen a replica gun. They looked so real.

"We learned how easy it is for one to be turned into a real gun. We were shown how replica weapons can be just as dangerous as real weapons because it is so difficult to tell them apart."

Jessica Wood, aged 13, said: "The talk was very interesting. I didn't realise replica guns could be so dangerous and could frighten people so much.

"They were bigger than I thought they would be and looked quite scary. Even some on the police officers who have had 10 years training say they would struggle to tell the difference between a real gun and a replica one."

Reece Allman, aged 12, added: "We couldn't believe all the guns were replicas, they all looked so real. We just couldn't tell the difference. Even the cigarette lighter looked scary."

Chief Insp Pat McKelvey from Bolton Police, who used to head the Tactical Firearms Unit, said: "Too many children are seen out and about playing with imitation weapons which they have been bought and these days they look too much like the real thing.

"We are inundated with calls from members of the public who see these guns and think they are real.

"The talk was about trying to educate the children and their parents and make them more aware of where they play with these weapons -- hopefully it will reduce the number of calls we receive."

"When we receive such a call, we dispatch the firearms unit and they don't know whether the gun is real.

"We don't want a situation where someone is injured or killed because officers have been Chief Insp John Berry from the Tactical Firearms Units said: "The unit has created a crime reduction package for young persons, specifically to reduce the number of incidents carrying ball-bearing guns, replica guns and air pistols where crime has been committed or the community has been put in fear."