TEACHERS in Worcestershire are being advised not to take advantage of new powers to search pupils suspected of carrying knives.

Schools in England were yesterday granted the legal right to carry out searches of young people in a bid to cut knife crime.

However, John Allison, secretary of the Worcester and Vale branch of the teachers' union NASUWT, has advised that such searches should be left to the police.

"Teachers are not trained to do this sort of thing," he said. "They are not trained in self-defence and there is a risk of provocation. I would advise members to think very carefully before engaging in this sort of activity and would rather teachers did not carry out these searches."

Mr Allison said incidents of weapons being brought in to schools was very rare in Worcestershire.

He said: "This is something that generally occurs in inner city areas and schools in this area, thankfully, are not largely affected.

"However, it is a matter for the police if pupils are bringing in weapons and it should not be up to teachers to have to search pupils."

Under the new guidelines, trained staff, authorised by the headteacher, would be able to carry out searches. A pupil can be refused entry to a school if he or she refuses to be screened.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson said: "What happens at the moment is that if a teacher suspects a child of carrying a knife they have to call the police and wait for the police to arrive before that child can be searched - unless the child agrees to be searched. By that time any weapon they are carrying may have been passed on."

The guidelines suggest that randomly selected groups of pupils could be searched to send out a strong message of deterrence.

But it also sets out limits for schools, in that suspicion has to be reasonable and not based on stereotypical images of certain groups of pupils.