Police mounted their first stop and search for weapons under the new knives law in Spanish Point over the weekend but came up empty-handed despite stopping 37 people.

They did arrest five people for drugs, however, four people for outstanding warrants and one person with an offensive weapon, although the weapon had been dumped and is not likely to lead to a prosecution under the new law.

Under the new Criminal Code Amendment Act people guilty of carrying blades more than three inches long in a public place, without lawful reason, face a minimum three-year jail term.

Police had set up checkpoints on North Shore Road near the Pembroke Community Club and on Spanish Point Road near Point Mart after getting a tip off about potential violence.

The Police Support Unit also monitored people using the Slipaway Lounge on North Shore Road in Devonshire but again it went without incident.