AN ARSENAL of 40 imitation guns are to be destroyed after a man surrendered his collection.

Officers were shocked to find the weapons at the home of a Nantwich man.

Along with relatives, the man, who has refused to be named, had built up the collection over the years but became worried that they could be stolen by criminals.

The stash included self-loading rifles, machine guns, automatic pistols and a long-barreled Smith and Wesson revolver, similar to that used in the film Dirty Harry.

There was also one genuine Thompson sub-machine gun, which had been de-activated.

But police say they could have been faced with a 'life or death' situation if the guns had found their way into the wrong hands.

Detective Sergeant Dave Jones said: 'He hadn't broken any laws by having them but we are always concerned about replicas like these being stolen.

'Replica weapons are used in robberies and other crimes and some of them can be converted to fire bullets.

'Like most replicas these are extremely accurate. Two of them are copies of the Glock semi-automatic pistols which our own armed response officers carry and even close up it's hard to tell the difference.

'If anyone was seen handling any of these guns they might soon find themselves surrounded by armed police officers.

'Those officers would then be faced with making some very quick decisions which could mean the difference between life and death. These guns will now be destroyed.'

The man was due to go into hospital and phoned police to tell them as he thought it was unsafe to leave the guns in an empty house. He decided to dispose of the collection completely.

Nantwich's county councillor Arthur Moran says it is a relief that such a large number of potentially dangerous weapons had been handed over.

He added: 'It's gratifying to know this person has had the sense to hand in his extensive collection which means they will now be out of circulation.

'I just hope that if anyone else has a similar collection, they will follow this man's example. It could have been a terrifying situation if they had got into the wrong hands.'