The Video Identification System will enable officers to cut through the red tape involved in setting up parades

Home Office Minister Keith Bradley

Mr Bradley said that �7.6m will be made available to the 10 force areas to assist with the purchase and installation of equipment in the coming year.

He said: "Robbery is a traumatic and often swift event.

"There is rarely any forensic evidence and police have to rely on witness identification of the suspect.

"For many years traditional live identity parades have been open to abuse, with suspects repeatedly failing to show up and holding up the criminal justice process.

"The Video Identification System will enable officers to cut through the red tape involved in setting up parades.

'More efficient'

"Instead of taking weeks to organise, officers can now arrange video identification parades while the suspect is still in custody and the incident is fresh in the victim's memory."

Superintendent John Brinnand from Longsight Police Station, where the new system will be used, told BBC GMR it will make identifying criminals much easier.

"It is a replacement for the conventional system where you have to bring people off the street to stand in a parade with suspects so that the witness can actually point them out.

"This is very time consuming, very expensive and we hope by using the video system we can get rid of it.

"[The video] will be cheaper, it will be quicker and it will be more efficient."

Image bank

A new code to allow routine use of video identification parades came into force on 1 April and the system will be placed in all 10 forces by mid April.

It provides the witness with a bank of up to eight images to identify the perpetrator of a crime.

The new technology is linked to the Government's Ten Force Robbery Reduction Initiative which was launched last month.

The aim is to reduce the number of recorded robberies in the top 10 areas which account for 82% of all recorded robberies.