Postal workers will now ask to see ID before delivering blades to your home

Posties will join the blitz on knife crime by asking for proof of age before handing over packaged blades.

They will ask to see photographic identification like passports or driving licences on the doorstep to prevent knives being delivered to juveniles.

The crackdown will be enforced in time for Christmas and follows a 20-inch machete being left by a front door after an order was placed on Amazon.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are taking prudent measures to support the Government’s ambition to reduce knife crime.”

Currently, people usually only show proof of age to collect at a delivery office.

It is understood workers have been told age-restricted items will have stickers on parcels to help to ensure ID is checked on delivery.

The new policy could mean delays if adults are not home for deliveries. And posties warn that items that fit through letterboxes may not be checked.

One said: “We post small parcels through letterboxes which could have knives, superglue or tablets in them, to which a child could get access.”

Patrick Green of the Ben Kinsella Trust, named after a teen stabbed to death in North London, said: “Young people determined to get knives have been using online shopping to get around the law. This might seem like a small step but the action of postal workers will prevent knives falling into wrong hands.”