NEW equipment to help in the fight against crime has been installed at Redditch Police Station.

Ultraviolet lights have been fitted in the police custody suites so SmartWater - forensically coded water to spray offenders and mark property - can be seen.

SmartWater covers offenders with a harmless solution, which is invisible to the naked eye but is detectable on skin, hair, footwear and clothing.

Insp Paul Crowley, of North Worcestershire Police, said: "The SmartWater solution remains for months and on clothing indefinitely - no matter how hard offenders try to scrub it off.

"From now on, every offender arrested and brought into the Kidderminster or Redditch custody suites will be automatically screened when they are booked in. To date SmartWater has a 100 per cent conviction rate."

Any organisation which buys the SmartWater system will have a special code which means that if an offender is caught with traces of SmartWater on them, there is a definite link between them and the premises.

If the offender glows under the new lights, a swab will be taken of the substance and the code linked back to a specific crime scene.

Insp Crowley added: "It's a very exciting initiative.

"The evidence is quite simply irrefutable and other police forces, and our colleagues in Shrewsbury division, who have been using SmartWater scanners for about 18 months, have reported excellent results.

Phil Cleary, chief executive of Telford-based SmartWater, said: "SmartWater is delighted to be working with West Mercia Constabulary, our local police force.

"We believe the initiative will have a very positive impact on local communities and at the same time have criminals running scared."