The government is rolling out tough new measures to tackle knife crime – and fresh figures reveal how Glastonbury, Street, Wells, Shepton Mallet and Frome compare when it comes to weapons offences.

The latest plans include hefty penalties for tech companies that fail to remove violent content online, with fines of up to £60,000 for platforms and £10,000 for individual executives.

Meanwhile, police data shows Shepton Mallet had the highest rate of weapon-related crime in the Mendip area in 2024, with six incidents reported. That's a rate of 6.7 per 10,000 people.

Wells followed closely with five offences, putting its rate at 6.0. In Frome, five weapon crimes were recorded across the town's North West and South & East neighbourhoods, working out to an estimated rate of 2.6 per 10,000 residents. Glastonbury saw three offences (3.9 per 10,000), while Street recorded just one, with a rate of 1.2 per 10,000.

The figures, published for neighbourhoods with populations between 7,000 and 10,000, don't include incidents reported at train stations or in areas covered by Greater Manchester Police, which did not provide data for 2024.

The government says it's stepping up its response to knife violence, following last year's ban on zombie knives and machetes – weapons typically more than eight inches long and often serrated. A nationwide knife surrender scheme is set to launch in July.

Other plans include introducing two-step ID checks for buying knives online, increasing the prison sentence for selling weapons to under-18s from six months to two years, and creating a new criminal offence for possessing a weapon with intent to cause violence, which could carry a prison term of up to four years.

A consultation is also expected on bringing in a licensing system for knife retailers.

Launching the government's latest crackdown, Crime and Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: "The kind of content that young people scroll through every day online is sickening and I will not accept any notion that restricting access to this harmful material is too difficult."

"Our children need more from us. That is why we are now going further than ever to hold tech companies to account."

Campaigners say that while the number of reported incidents in Mendip towns remains low compared to urban centres, every offence matters – especially when it comes to prevention and keeping young people away from violence.

The government's aim, ministers say, is to put responsibility on the people and platforms fuelling the problem behind the scenes.