Ref. 8693-02Inspector Paul Ginger is the head of Wiltshire Police's Hi-Tech Crime Unit based in Devizes.

The unit deals with computer based crime including the recent hacking of the Friends Reunited website and dealing with child abuse photographs and paedophilia.

Inspector Ginger said: "We have predicted an increased use of computers by criminals but because we are always one step behind as technology gets better, they will always find ways of using it.

"Technology has helped speed up our work but has also slowed it down. One example is where money can be transferred through several different countries in seconds.

"But when we want to trace its path it can take many months."

When dealing with computer crimes the boffins at the unit use a variety of complex and sophisticated software to look for and trace illegal material.

"When we are dealing with paedophilia, the computers must not be adjusted as they are needed for evidence, so we make ghost copies of the hard drives with which we can carry out our searches."