MARKSMEN from police forces across the North-East are to be put through their paces at a high-tech centre, which opened yesterday.

A canon firing plastic bullets and a video shooting range are among the training aides at the police firearms training centre.

The joint firearms training centre in Urlay Nook, near Stockton, has been developed by Cleveland and Durham police forces.

Computers and sophisticated electronics have been combined with traditional firing ranges at the centre, which is already generating interest from police forces around the world.

Facilities are so advanced that in one simulation room, officers who fail to react quickly enough to the action on a giant video screen will find themselves under fire from a hail of plastic bullets.

The centre, built on a former factory site, will train officers to use a variety of weapons from 9mm pistols, carbines and baton guns, to sniper rifles.

As well as live ammunition, the officers will use "simmuntion" bullets, which splash victims with paint if they get in the line of fire.

There is a 70ft-high abseiling tower at the centre, as well as an eight-lane firing range, which is big enough to allow the involvement of armed response vehicles in training exercises.

The targets on the firing range can move left to right, as well as swivel and turn, to make it as difficult as possible for the training officers to get a shot.

Inspector Steve McWilliams is in charge of the training school, which will teach 200 officers from both forces every year.

He said: "We are trailblazers and this is a state-of-the-art model for the world.

"Many facilities are unique. This facility allows us to train officers to the highest standard possible in this country.

"Our officers are already trained to a high standard, but a centre with these capabilities can raise levels of performance to even higher standards."

As well as learning how to use firearms, officers at the centre will be trained in how to use equipment to force open doors and cut through metal grilles, which are often put on drug dealers' homes and illegal drinking dens.

There is also a "tactile house" at the centre, in which officers can learn the best ways to move around and search a building in a number of different situations.