London, June 29 One in ten teenagers living in Britain's knife crime hotspots carries a deadly blade to feel safe, finds a new survey.

A majority of the respondents also admitted to tooling themselves up to gain respect from mates or for protection.

Two-thirds of the teenagers polled claimed that it was to buy a knife, despite the Government raising the legal age from 16 to 18.

And only 30pct believed that longer sentences would cut knife crime in hotspots like London and Manchester.

Conducted by ComRes, the survey also saw a quarter of 500 teens saying that they knew a stabbing victim.

About 50pct believed that the Government would not stop attacks.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the Government's 12million-pound Tackling Knives Action Programme launched last June was working.

"It will take longer than eight months for teens to feel safe," the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

However, the number of teens treated for stab wounds in hotspots is going down but 17 teens have been killed with a knife so far this year. (ANI)