How many times were armed police called out in Cleveland?

Armed police were called to more incidents in the Cleveland Police area last year

Home Office data shows Cleveland Police conducted 268 armed operations in the year to March.

That was up 267% from 2018-19, when there were 73 firearms operations, but down 38% compared to a decade ago

Meanwhile, the number of armed officers in the force rose from 55 to 57 over the period.

A decade earlier, there were 72 armed officers in Cleveland's ranks.

Durham Constabulary conducted 69 armed operations in the year to March.

This was down 21% from 2018-19, when there 87 firearms operations, and 51% from a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the number of armed officers in the force rose from 55 to 63 over the period. A decade earlier, there were 81 armed officers in Durham's ranks.

Nationally the number of firearms officers fell 2% to 6,518 by March 31 - despite the Government's £143m recruitment drive in 2016 for 1,500 more over five years.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for armed policing, Simon Chesterman, said using a weapon is "always a last resort".

He added: "A mark of the quality of training that armed officers receive is how infrequently they have to use their weapons.

A Home Office spokesman said: “More than 4,000 officers have already joined as part our pledge to recruit 20,000 additional officers in the next three years.