Home Secretary Amber Rudd says it will be an offence to sell corrosive substances to anyone under the age of 18 and announces crackdown on online knife sales.

Her promise, announced at the Conservative Party Conference today, has been prompted by an increasing number of reported acid attacks, with more than 400 assaults using corrosive substances recorded in the six months to April this year.  

Addressing party members at the conference in Manchester, Ms Rudd said: "Acid attacks are absolutely revolting. You have all seen the pictures of victims that never fully recover - endless surgeries, lives ruined.

"So, today I am also announcing a new offence, to prevent the sale of acids to under 18s."

She added that there would also be implications for people carrying acid in public "if they don’t have a good reason.”

Ms Rudd also revealed plans to "drastically limit" sales of sulphuric acid, which can be used to make homemade explosives, and announced she would be taking a tougher stance on knife sales. She outlined her intention to prevent the online sale of knives to children and to make the possession of flick knives and zombie knives at home illegal.