A POLICE authority has been given Government funding to silence its plane's noisy propellers.

The Home Office awarded £25,000 to Northumbria Police Authority to help buy redesigned propellers and silencers for the North-East Air Support Unit's fixed wing aircraft.

The Islander aircraft was bought in 1996 and its engines and propellers generate more noise than more modern aeroplanes and helicopters.

The plane has been criticised for the amount of noise it generates while circling an incident.

But its manufacturer, the Britten-Norman Group, based on the Isle of Wight, has developed exhaust silencers and redesigned propellers.

The modifications are expected to cost about £50,000 and the balance of the funding will be raised by the three police authorities that use the plane, Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland.

It is hoped the newly-silenced aircraft will be able to take to the skies later this year