Two police forces are teaming up to provide a new training regime for probation officers.

Durham has joined forces with neighbouring Northumbria to introduce the new training format, the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), starting in April.

Under a national shake-up of the way new recruits are introduced to policing and developed as new officers will change.

It means the existing Durham site of the national police training body Centrex wil close at the end of March.

Although Centrex will continue as a training advisory and co-ordinating body, individual forces will have to take responsibility for training recruits during the first months of their police careers.

The new system, devised over several months of planning between Durham and Northumbria, is believed to offer a blueprint which other forces could follow.

Classroom-based learning will take place in buildings previously leased to Centrex, alongside force headquarters, at Aykley Heads, Durham. It will be staffed by qualified training officers from both forces, headed by a chief inspector from Durham.

While some forces have opted for a more academic approach, emphasis in the new Durham/Northumbria regime will be on practical, 'on the job' training.

Trainees will undergo temporary attachments to outside bodies, such as housing departments, probation and social services and to groups considered "hard to reach" for police, such as ethnic and youth groups.

The aim is to offer a broader understanding of the needs of the areas which officers will serve in during their police career.

Probationers must complete four phases of learning over 31 weeks, before beginning independent patrols within their command area.

Durham's project manager Superintendent James McAloon said it represents, "a revolution" in the delivery of training, putting the two forces at the "forefront" of change.

"Every stage will be kept under constant review and in time, as with any new programme, there will undoubtedly be changes.

"But the overall benefit will be the professionalising of the process, with probationer officers having to achieve nationally agreed levels of competency and accreditation."

Around 250 first year students, 180 from Northumbria and 70 from Durham, will undergo the new programme from April.