A NEW £6m computer system to help Hampshire police fight crime went live today.

The revolutionary technology, switched on at midnight, is the most advanced of its type in the world and should help get officers out on the beat rather than being stuck behind desks completing paperwork.

Research shows the computer package codenamed Oberon should free up more than 70,000 police hours a year - the equivalent of 37 more officers.

The technology is the most significant business change project ever undertaken by Hampshire Constabulary and has been three years in the making.

A new records management system (RMS), supplied by Canadian company Niche Technology Inc, will revolutionise how crimes and incidents across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are logged and tracked.

Officers will now be able to record and search within a single system for information against any name, address, vehicle, event or object known to police - an ability that the many systems previously used within the force could not do.

It will also gather intelligence on firearms and the previous history of locations and people.

Experts say the new software will be an effective tool for monitoring antisocial behaviour and mapping crime hot spot areas more effectively.

Although costing about £6m over the next five years, it is anticipated that savings from a more efficient service could be between £20m and £27m over the same period.

Hampshire Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan said: "Project Oberon is not only a major technological advance but also fulfils a commitment to the personnel of Hampshire Constabulary.

"RMS is designed to be user friendly and particular attention was paid to the training dimension.

"We now have a system which complements the skills of our personnel and provides them and the wider community with information we can exploit rapidly."

Chief Superintendent John James, who managed Project Oberon for the force, said: "We are implementing world class software to support our operational policing needs.

"We believe that the outcome will mean a significantly improved service to the public and the potential to free up staff time to focus on our core business - providing a service to the public, partner agencies and each other."