HAMPSHIRE’S new Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Hayes has set aside £380,000 of the force’s £310m budget to buy 50,000-volt Tasers and train officers how to use them.

Mr Hayes wants every front line police officer in Hamp-shire to be armed with a Taser gun to combat violence.

His call followed the publication of figures revealing 70 crimes involving firearms in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight during the past year and after attacks and assaults on officers and PCSOs.

A Taser is a “less lethal” weapon in a situation where once a firearm may have been used to deal with a violent or life-threatening situation.

It fires needle-tip darts, attached to wires that carry an electric charge, into offenders to temporarily paralyse them.

Currently, only firearms officers are able to use the weapon and respond to call-outs from colleagues who encounter armed or violent criminals.

Mr Hayes said: “I would like to have Tasers available to every front line officer. It will cost a lot but they protect officers and it protects the public.”

Mr Hayes added the weapon would be available to the 2,250 front line officers not police community support officers.