IT'S ARRIVED... The Knife Angel landed in Newtown on Saturday with a special ceremony to mark its arrival.

County Councillor Joy Jones has led the campaign to bring the iconic anti-violence statue to its location near the Oriel Davies Gallery in the town.

Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn backed Councillor Jones along with other local people, to make the successful bid to bring the National Monument against Violence and Aggression to Wales for the first time.

Guests at Saturday's ceremony included Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn and Powys County Council Leader, Rosemarie Harris, the Mayor of Newtown, along with town and county councillors.

The Knife Angel will be in Newtown until the end of the month. It will be used to raise awareness of anti violence and crime, as well as knife crime.

Cllr Jones said on Facebook: "All I hope is the message gets across and people in Powys stand up against violence of all kinds."

"As a family we have personally felt the pain of how violence affects not only the victim but the whole family as many scares and mental health issues are hidden even after the physical injuries fade... so let's all support the Knife Angel's anti-violence message.

"After a mad five weeks we are here at the start of the Knife Angel visit. Fingers crossed all goes well.

"I am very grateful that the police commissioner agreed to support my idea."

A big thank you to the small group that have had my back on this in one way or another.

Created at the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry the 3.5 tonnes, 27 foot high, Knife Angel, is a “national monument against violence and aggression” and was made from 100,000 knives collected from 43 police forces all around the country including Dyfed-Powys.

Artist, Alfie Bradley, took two years to make the angel, with each knife blunted before being welded onto the sculpture.

The wings were then created using the blades only, creating a feather like appearance.

Part of the the Knife Angel’s work is to promote a petition supporting a ‘Save a Life – Surrender your Knife’ campaign that has already been signed by nearly 16,000 people.

PICTURES: Tracy Hall and Paul Williams