CRIMINALS are in for an even tougher time thanks to a ground-breaking fingerprinting system now in use at police stations across Worc-estershire.

LiveScan - which works a bit like a photocopier to scan the fingers, thumbs and palms - means an offender can be identified in five to 10 minutes instead of two or three days previously.

The machines are now being used across the West Mercia area - where nearly 30,000 fingerprints are taken annually - at Hereford, Kidderminster, Redditch, Shrewsbury and Telford police stations following a successful four-year pilot at Worcester's Castle Street station. West Mercia's fingerprint expert Andy Candlin said LiveScan offers benefits that were not possible with the old 'ink and print' method of taking fingerprints.

"It is much quicker, being able to identify an offender in five to 10 minutes instead of two to three days previously, when the prints had to be physically dispatched to the bureau from around the force," he added.

"With LiveScan, the details are printed out at West Mercia Constabulary's headquarters in Hindlip minutes after being taken. LiveScan also searches a detainee's fingerprints ag-ainst unsolved crime scenes, resulting in repeat offenders often being remanded in custody, preventing them committing further offences." Mr Candlin said that as well as being printed out, all of the images go into a national database that can be searched by forces across the country to establish someone's identity and help solve crimes.

He added: "LiveScan also increases the chance of recovering stolen property by establishing offenders' home addresses more quickly - as well as reducing the number of detained people who give false names and addresses."

Detective Chief Superinten-dent Trevor Albutt, head of West Mercia CID, said: "This is the biggest change in the taking of finger-prints since the practice first began in the early 1900s.

"Fingerprints remain the cheapest and most effective means of personal identification. Our aim is to make life more difficult for criminals, and LiveScan is one way of doing that."

The machines will ultimately form part of a network of almost 500 units used by police forces across England, Wales and Scotland, with Northern Ireland joining at a later date.

They are leased at a cost of £1,750 per month, with 50 per cent being met by the Government for the first 18 months.