A high-street clothing store has withdrawn a range of jackets containing a concealed knife after concerns they could be used for crime.

TK Maxx said that it had removed the Swiss-branded coats, which came with a knife attached by a chain, as soon as it became aware of them. The £59 hooded jackets have an internal pocket to store the knife, which has a blade 2½ inches (6.3cm) long.

A shopper found one of the coats on sale at his local store in Farnborough, Hampshire, The Sun reported. “I pulled the chain and out came this knife. I couldn’t believe it. It was actually part of the coat,” Steve Gale said. “I asked the assistant if it was acceptable, and she said it was probably a camping coat.”

It is illegal to market a blade in a way likely to encourage violence, or to sell knives to under-18s.

There were 258 knife killings in England and Wales in 2006/7 and 27 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London alone this year.

A spokesman for TK Maxx, which has 180 branches across the country, said that the company “supports and enforces all laws and regulations with regard to the sale of knives in stores”.

“Recently we became aware a Swiss-branded coat on sale in store included a pocket penknife as a promotional gift,” he said. “Once aware of this, we followed all necessary procedures to remove the items swiftly from the supply chain. It is therefore with great regret we learn that not all items were picked up through this process.

“All store teams have been alerted to this and as a matter of urgent priority have now removed all related items from the shop floor.”

Last year a TK Maxx assistant was stabbed to death by a cleaner at a store in Leicestershire. William Aliki, 31, hanged himself in jail after killing Rina Panchal in a dispute over pay.

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