The owner of the Island?s largest landscaping firm has called for an outright ban on machetes ? even for gardening.

He spoke out after Government announced plans for legislation to jail anyone caught in public with a bladed weapon without reasonable excuse.

Jeff Sousa, of Sousa?s Landscape Management, said: ?People will just say they are off to cut their granny?s hedge.?

But he said it was time to ban machetes altogether because they are a useless and dangerous gardening tool.

He said his 45 staff use gas powered sheers or loppers because machetes hack plants and encourage pests and disease.

?If any of my employees used a machete they would be terminated,? he said.

?We are the only place in the sophisticated world which uses machetes for pruning. They are only fit for sugar plantations and cutting through the jungle.?

He said if a hedge was cut correctly ? thinner at the top and wider at the bottom ? then the machete would be dangerous to wield.

?It would go right into your knees or your privates. You don?t want that.?

Hedges are being cut in the wrong shapes, said Mr. Sousa, who has been in the landscaping business for 30 years.

He also said machetes could easily fly out of sweaty hands in the summer heat. ?The could easily land up in someone?s chest.?

Mr. Sousa said international gardening bodies do not like the use of machetes but denied he was trying to hamper professional rivals.

?We have oodles of work, we charge $90 for an estimate while other companies do it for free.?

Government recently announced the clampdown on sharp weapons which are being used in increasingly violent attacks across the Island.

On Wednesday Police revealed around 75 weapons had been confiscated in the last four months.