David Beckham has joined other England football stars to call on young people to stop carrying knives.

Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and David James spoke to launch an anti-knife campaign called It Doesn't Have to Happen.

Beckham said: "We can help people, we can help youngsters because, we've got a voice that kids listen to."

The government says more than 2,500 arrests have been made and 1,600 knives have been seized since June under its action plan to tackle knife crime.

Over 55,000 people have been stopped and searched under the measures.