A PIONEERING crime-buster has just completed his 100th in-depth investigation - at the tender age of one.

In his very short life Deric has already studied the equivalent of four billion pages of text in the battle against high-tech fraud and crime.

Deric is the acronym for the Digital Evidence Recovery and Internet Crime unit, part of a dedicated team from North Yorkshire County Council's trading standards service.

The unit went into service just a year ago and has already proved to be a huge success.

Deric can undertake forensic examination of computers, mobile phones and other digital equipment such as cameras and personal organisers.

The forensic specialists within the unit provide advice and help on a wide range of investigations, including the seizure of computers, internet investigations and the examination of computers for false descriptions.

The unit's 100 investigations so far have involved examining 158 computers and analysing over 5,500 gigabytes as well as retrieving evidence from mobile phones and web sites.

It has worked for local authority organisations across the country, helping to uncover a wide range of criminal activities from benefit fraud, consumer fraud, frauds against businesses, product counterfeiting and the illegal sale of pornography.

The county council's executive member for trading standards, John Dennis, said: "The creation of the Deric laboratory was a bold step, helped by funding from the Department of Trade and Industry.

"I'm delighted to see that within the first year of operation the unit has already undertaken a wide range of vital work.

"This has helped trading standards services and other regulators combat the increasingly sophisticated criminals who prey on consumers and legitimate businesses."