3.—(1) This regulation applies to any item which has been seized by a constable under section 60 of the 1994 Act(1), unless it is an item of property to which the Police (Property) Regulations 1997(2) apply.
(2) An item to which this regulation applies shall be retained by, or in accordance with arrangements made by, the chief officer of the police force of which the constable by whom it was seized is a member (or, where the constable concerned is not a member of a police force, the person who has the direction and control of the body of constables in question) for the period set out in paragraph (3) below from the date on which it was seized unless, before the end of that period, the owner of the item has been ascertained and has made an application under regulation 4 below which has been successful.
(3) The period referred to in paragraph (2) above shall be 2 months in the case of an item seized under section 60(4A)(b) of the 1994 Act (items worn to conceal identity) and 6 months in the case of an item seized under section 60(6) of that Act (dangerous instruments and offensive weapons).
(4) Any item to which this regulation applies and which is for the time being retained under paragraph (2) shall be kept safely and, so far as possible, in the same condition as when it was seized under section 60 of the 1994 Act.
Section 60 was amended by section 25 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and by section 8 of the Knives Act 1997 (c. 21).
S.I. 1997/1908.