County 'still safe' despite firearms surge

Police said the use of stun-guns has had a positive effect

Offences involving real and replica weapons in Northamptonshire have doubled, according to new Home Office figures.

Firearms offences in the county for 2002/3 were recorded at 107 compared with 55 in the previous year.

During the same period, Northamptonshire Police's armed response unit was deployed 332 times, up 200 on 2001/2.

The force's Assistant Chief Constable Derek Talbot said many offences involved imitation firearms and added that Northamptonshire was still a safe place to live and work.

Imitation weapons

The latest figures show all gun incidents, from toy guns being used as imitation firearms to armed robberies and other violent incidents.

Of the 107 recorded firearms incidents, 42 were found to be replica or imitation weapons.

"The increase in firearms offences recorded from 55 to 107 is largely as a result of changes in the way these offences have been recorded," said Mr Talbot.

"Northamptonshire is a safe place to live, work and travel through and we do not have a serious problem with gun crime.

No shootings

"Our problems do not compare to large urban areas but we take gun crime very seriously indeed and we have highly-trained firearms officers ready to respond to any given situation".

He added that the rise in the use of armed officers was down to improved intelligence and did not imply guns were now prevalent.

"We have had another year without a shooting incident and we feel the introduction of taser has had a positive effect," he said.

"We have used taser on three occasions in the county when otherwise serious consideration may have had to be given regarding the use of a firearm."

A month-long firearms amnesty in April last year saw 753 weapons handed in to the police, including 485 firearms.