There's a man living in northern England who claims that he can provide access to just about any kind of gun which a criminal might want. All it takes, he says proudly, is one phone call and the meeting can be set up in a local pub, an order placed and the weapons handed over shortly afterwards, no questions asked.

But he is no international arms trafficker, he's a large, bluff, down-to-earth character with convictions for violent crime and a few dubious connections in the underbelly of the gritty industrial city in which he lives.

He is not unique; every city in the world has many more like him, middle-ranking criminals who play their part in a trade which takes in the war-torn nations of Africa, the violent streets of America, the crumbling former Eastern Bloc, the disintegrating Balkans and western European nations like Britain, Germany and The Netherlands.

Drugs have undoubtedly been one of the major factors behind the increase, dealers more readily prepared to settle scores with firearms, and also regarding weapons as symbols of prestige. Today it is fashionable to be 'tooled up' and guns have almost become a fashion accessory....