A NORTH-EAST factory is going into the crime-fighting business by turning out a new breed of scenes-of-crime experts for police forces all over the country.

Up to 250 specialists from all over the UK will pass through the unit at Spennymoor over the next 12 months, training to tackle the forensic investigation of house burglaries and car crime.

Scene examination and vehicle examination bays will be set up on the factory floor while offices will be transformed into classrooms.

Twenty-five students will pass through the centre every three weeks as they learn about DNA sampling, fingerprints and other forensic evidence.

The teaching project is being developed by experts from the Durham Constabulary-run National Training Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation, based at Harperley Hall, near Crook, which has been given a £500,000 grant to cover the costs.

Director Peter Ablett said: "Given all the demands for training we did not have the capacity at Harperley Hall to deliver what the Government required within the time-scales they announced.

"For that reason, we launched a search for a suitable alternative venue.

"Put simply, more offenders will be identified if more crime scenes are examined."

The need to recruit more crime scene examiners was identified by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in a national report published last summer.

Mr Ablett added: "There is every likelihood volume scenes of crime examiners will become a permanent feature of policing in England and Wales and we will be looking to develop training which will allow this new breed of specialists to ultimately become capable of examining the full range of crime scenes.