EVERY two and a half days a person in Swindon faces being stabbed.

Knife crime penetrated every area of the town in 2007 it is revealed in freedom of information figures obtained by the Adver.

Police dealt with 146 knife related crimes including stabbings and threats.

In nearly one third of cases victims were stabbed or injured with one death resulting.

Robbery was the motivation behind one third of the attacks while police classed 31 per cent as disorder.

And accident and emergency figures at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon show that most of the 36 victims admitted with stab wounds last year were young men aged 18 to 25.

The location of the strikes spread randomly across the town from rural Wroughton to Penhill.

Five men were robbed at knifepoint in Lawn Woods over the course of four days in January.

And police attended five knife incidents in Queens Drive and four in Fleming Way - in one a man's throat and face were slashed.

Chief Inspector Simon Dicks said that Wiltshire Police's proactive stop and search policy finds the knife carriers before they cause harm.

He said many carried knives for self-defence and warned them the weapon could be stolen and used against them.

"We operate a zero tolerance policy on knives.

"Anyone carrying a weapon faces arrest, prosecution and prison.

"We ask people not to carry knives on their person for whatever reason. It is foolish of people to think they can protect themselves, as it is risky.

"If you know anyone carrying a knife it is socially responsible to phone the police."

Overall, violent crime in the town has gone up 16 per cent in two years.

More than 1,930 victims faced violence last year in the town - up from 300 in 2005."

Standard knives were used in the majority of incidents but a man was threatened with a samurai sword in Wroughton.

Twenty-six victims were female and 118 were male. Two were unidentified.

Young dad Carl James, of Park South, was stabbed to death by his friend Michael Harris, of Marlowe Avenue, in March.

Harris has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

"Nationally Swindon is one of the safest places to live," said Ch Insp Dicks. "Thankfully knife crime in Swindon is a rare event and nowhere near as common as in larger areas."