Force joins national gun register

South Yorkshire Police is set to become the third force in England to join a national firearms database.

The National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS) was promised after the 1996 Dunblane massacre.

The system acts as a register of gun owners and licence applicants and will be accessible by officers in all 43 forces across England and Wales.

It has been piloted by the Lancashire and Metropolitan Police forces and will go live in South Yorkshire on Monday.

Ch Supt Bob Sanderson, from South Yorkshire Police, said: "Sharing intelligence is the main issue here, the system will be a significant step forward for all forces.

"It allows each force to share information in relation to any incidents involving firearms.

"The force has always had an independent database for storing applications for firearms and explosives but it was much harder for them to view information from other forces."

The system, on which the Home Office has so far spent £5.5m, has been dogged by delays but is expected to be rolled out to all police forces next summer.

Once in place, it will hold 1.2m records.