EXTRA call handlers are to be taken on while staff at a police force's two communications centres are undergoing training.

A one-off cash injection by Durham Police Authority, which includes Darlington, will enable 20 extra call handlers to be based at communications rooms in Bishop Auckland and at force headquarters, at Aykley Heads, Durham.

The authority has approved the extra £258,000 to cover the remainder of the financial year, to the end of March next year.

A temporary recruitment drive was required to cover training of communications centre staff prior to introducing the command and control system, which is scheduled to go live in December.

It will standardise how incidents are categorised and dealt with, providing officers on the scene with a wealth of information.

Training starts in the next few weeks, with the force now sifting through applications for the temporary communications centre posts.

Police authority chairwoman Councillor Anne Wright said the extra money would ease the burden on staff and improve the police response, "at the first point of contact".

"Members of the public will get a direct benefit from this additional funding, as the staff in the two communications rooms are the first point of contact most people have with Durham Constabulary.

"Communications is a front line service and the number of calls made to the force has grown significantly in the last few years.

"To meet this increased workload, and the implications of the new command system, we have set aside money from the authority's reserves."

Coun Wright added that it would increase staffing levels in the short-term and ensure people ringing receive the service they are entitled to.

The two-centre system, serving the north and south of the force area, was introduced in 2003 replacing six communications rooms.

The centres are staffed round-the-clock by 200 call handlers, dispatchers, supervisors and uniformed officers.

They handle about 7,500 calls a month.