Village bobbies could be armed in terror fight

RURAL police officers may routinely carry guns amid fears terrorists could strike outside major cities, police chiefs have announced.

Officers in isolated towns and villages in areas such as Devon, Cornwall and Cumbria could soon be issued with guns, amid fears that counter-terrorism officers could take too long to arrive.

Each force can call on a number of armed response vehicles (ARVS) which patrol 24 hours a day and carry at least two highly trained firearms specialists. But while ARVS would be expected to respond to a terror attack in an urban area within 10 minutes, there is concern about how quickly they could reach an outlying area.

In addition, police chiefs admit they have not recruited all of the extra 1,500 armed officers announced in the wake of the Paris attacks in 2015. The latest figures show they are about 130 short of the target, with another 100 elite counter terrorist specialist firearms officers (CTSFOS) needed.

Dept Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, the National Police Chiefs Council lead on armed policing, said routine arming of officers was a possibility. He explained: “If there are gaps in the amount of protection we are able to deliver … then we have to think of innovative ways of filling those gaps. Ideally it will be an ARV but for a range of reasons the ARV might not be the answer, so routine arming has to be a consideration.”

♦ The number of county lines drugs gangs operating in the UK has risen fourfold in four years, figures show.

BBC researchers found there are more than 1,000 so-called county lines gangs, which use children and young people to run drugs all over the UK via a network of telephone numbers.

Chief Constable Mike Barton of Durham police said 10-year-olds were “the criminals of today” and warned a fall in youth services had led to increased violence on British streets.