THERE is no escape - that is the message given to Fenland s criminals by the police helicopter. Cambridgeshire Police Authority believes its presence in the skies is a welcoming and reassuring one. At the annual meeting of the authority on Monday, members

THERE is no escape - that is the message given to Fenland's criminals by the police helicopter.

Cambridgeshire Police Authority believes its presence in the skies is a welcoming and reassuring one.

At the annual meeting of the authority on Monday, members heard that the new helicopter which took to the skies in June last year works across the county and with the force consortium partners of Essex and Suffolk.

The helicopter can fly for around two hours without having to refuel and can carry up to eight people.

It is quieter than the old helicopter and is equipped with a high-powered camera.

The extra capacity is also useful in supporting the Mid-Anglia General Practitioner Accident Service (MAGPAS), by taking the voluntary emergency medical team direct to the scene of an incident within minutes.

The authority provided £1.5m to part-fund the helicopter, which cost £3.9m.

From June 2005 to June 2006 the previous helicopter flew in more than 1,900 operations and was responsible for the arrest of 110 criminals.

From June 2006 to mid-May 2007, the new helicopter attended 2,014 incidents, directly arrested 105 people and assisted in a further 78 arrests.

In total it has:

# Attended 2,014 incidents

# Completed 773 hours' flying

# Directly arrested 105 people

# Assisted in a further 78 arrests

# Located 17 people missing from home

# Searched 4,817 km of land

# Recovered £127,100 of property.

Working in partnership with MAGPAS, the helicopter has attended 31 incidents and on behalf of neighbouring forces Lincolnshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, 103 incidents have been attended with 17 direct arrests and five missing people have been found.