MALVERN police officers have received the first batch of body cameras in West Mercia.

Some 46 officers in Malvern have been given the cameras this week as part of West Mercia Police's £1m investment in 2,200 devices.

The rest of the cameras will be rolled out to frontline officers and staff by the end of 2017.

The body cameras are made by Axon, formerly Taser, and automatically turn on when an officer fires a Taser.

They are turned onto 'buffering' mode when an officer leaves the station and can record backwards for 30 seconds at the touch of a button.

John Campion, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "This is week one and the first cadre of officers.

"We get around 500 complaints a year where this type of tool will allow us to resolve it far quicker.

"It gives confidence to our officers who are acting in a professional way. For me these guys do a really difficult job out there."

Mr Campion said they still need to 'iron out the kinks' such as wifi issues and passing the footage to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Kevin Purcell, Superintendent for South Worcestershire, also praised the new technology, which he thinks will have a range of benefits.

"It will assist jurors and judges. It will make a massive difference to prosecutions and the confidence communities have in us," he said.

"As importantly, we imagine people will moderate their behaviour to our officers as well."

Supt Purcell said it was a 'vlog not a log' and Mr Campion compared the device to a police officer's notepad.

Staff put their cameras in a dock, which automatically stores the footage, when they return to the police station.

Any footage used for evidence is kept for six years and that which is not is deleted in 31 days.

The police said the cameras do not record all of the time because of storage capacity limits and ethical considerations.

Cameras will be given to frontline staff, from officers up to inspectors, according to Mr Campion.