LANCASHIRE Police have finally placed an order for a new £2.9m helicopter.

The German-built Eurocopter EC135 will replace the current twin squirrel police helicopter and is expected to be delivered at Oxford next month. Specialist equipment will then be fitted and the Air Support Unit should take delivery at their BAE Systems Warton base in November 2002.

The purchase has been made possible with a grant of £1m from the Home Office capital fund for air support, together with the income from the sale of the current helicopter, which the force purchased in 1994 and savings in the running costs of the new one.

The new helicopter will be fitted with the latest camera and thermal image technology, ensuring the best tools are available to support officers on the ground. The helicopter will also be fitted with the latest pilot instrument technology, enabling the Air Support Unit to continue to operate at the highest safety levels required by increasing demands of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Inspector Steve Fitzgerald, head of the Lancashire Air Support Unit said: "In all areas of policing, technology moves forward and this is especially true of the next generation of helicopters.

"The £1m grant, together with funds already identified for Air Support, means that we can deliver that technology to operational police officers and the public of Lancashire sooner rather than later."