Foreign students visiting Oxford's Crown Court have been falling foul of security rules.

Since April this year, 246 cameras or recording devices - which are banned by law from being taken into court - have had to be handed in to door staff.

The majority of them belonged to overseas students for whom a visit to the St Aldate's court is all part of a city tour.

The Oxford Mail used the Freedom of Information Act to discover that in the past six months security staff also confiscated: * 44 knives/darts or scissors * 24 individual items of alcohol * Seven screwdrivers * One toolbox.

The majority of items were handed back to their owners when they left court.

Earlier this year, we sent FOI requests to the magistrates' and crown courts asking for all seizure details.

Files from the magistrates' court revealed that between January and July, 243 knives were collected - mostly from criminals attending hearings - prompting the police to call the figures "staggering".

The crown court did not reply within the statutory 21-day deadline, but has now supplied the information.

Jonathan Lane, manager for Thames Valley Courts, said: "Oxford is a city that attracts many tourists. We entertain a large number of foreign student parties and nearly all arrive with a camera - we are just part of their day's itinerary.

"We ask them to leave their camera at security and collect it when they leave - we do not seize them, we merely ask for them not to be taken into the building."

He said all but a handful of items were returned to their owners when they left the court.

The crown court's haul of knives, darts and scissors could be partly attributed to troublemakers - but also to jurors who were planning to play darts in the evening.

Mr Lane said the last problem the court had with people recording court proceedings - an offence under the 1981 Contempt of Court Act - was two years ago.

Three youths were caught taking photographs on their mobile phones.

They were cautioned by the police and the images were deleted.

At the height of this year's terror alert in August, magistrates' court security staff insisted bottles of water were sipped before being taken into court to prove it was not a liquid explosive.

The practice has since been stopped.