More than 2,000 special hand-held computers are being issued to police officers throughout the county.

Essex is one of 27 police forces across the UK to receive a share of £50 million Government funding, which will be used to provide front-line officers with handheld computers to reduce the amount of time spent in the police station.

There are already 500 in use across the county since February. Police have purchased an extra 500 computers, which will be in use by September, in addition to the 2,000, thanks to Government funding.

The devices can be used for a range of activities, including accessing local and national databases to help confirm someone's identity on the streets, filling in on-the-spot forms such as crime reports and stop and search, scanning fingerprints and sending officers to incidents.

A recent review of policing by Sir Ronnie Flanagan highlighted the need to provide forces with such equipment.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "By the end of September this year, 2,000 devices will have been deployed to officers with a further 500 by the end of December this year.

"There are already a number of officers around the county who have been using these since the start of the year."