POLICE in County Durham are breaking technological boundaries by swapping their radios for a digital system.

The force has switched to a new £3.36m digital radio network. Police will now carry hand-held radios which weigh less than 200 grams, or half-a-pound, each.

The new radios will filter out background noise, providing top broadcast quality and double up as mobile phones. They are also programmed to meet individual needs and allow police to tap into computer data.

The Airwave service went live in the Chester-le-Street and Durham division on Saturday and will be in use in the remaining divisions by March next year.

The network allows the division's police cars to be fitted with an automatic vehicle location system, using satellites to pinpoint where a patrol car, is to within a few feet.

Project manager Insp Bev Hills said: "Ultimately we will get to incidents more quickly by using a computer mapping package that allows us to direct the nearest available resources to the scene.

"Officers on patrol out on the streets will be able to speak to colleagues and by switching to mobile phone mode they can speak to members of the public and eventually they will use them to tap into computer data."