WILTSHIRE police dogs Flynn and Shadow have been praised for their perfomances against dogs from forces across the country in a national competition.

A total of 12 dogs and their handlers represented police forces in the South West and Wales at the regional police dog trials held in Wiltshire at the weekend.

The wet weather did not help the dogs in their tracking exercises and as a result the marks scored were disappointing.

Wiltshire dog handler PC Chris Burridge and his dog Flynn, based in Salisbury, came third overall in the two-day competition and also won the shield for best criminal work.

The other Wiltshire dog handler taking part was PC Alaster Bly with Shadow, who are based in Trowbridge. They came fifth overall.

General obedience and criminal work sessions were held at Police Headquarters in Devizes, while tracking exercises took place at Chirton, and searching was carried out at the former Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon.

More than 100 people went to watch the dogs and their handlers perform at Police Headquarters.

The public enjoyed the criminal work, where the dogs demonstrated their bravery in tackling offenders.

One exercise involved the dogs attacking an offender armed with a sawn-off shotgun and to make it realistic the shotgun fired blank rounds.

Dogs were also ordered to stop chasing an offender by their handlers while the offender continued to run, but not all the dogs managed to stop.

Sergeant Ian Partington, head of Wiltshire's dog section, said: "The dogs were getting carried away with the enthusiasm of the crowd and many of them continued to run after the offender despite being ordered to stop by their handlers.

"The handlers laughed as much as the crowd when they didn't stop."

He said the two Wiltshire dogs and their handlers performed well. "I'm delighted that Wiltshire won the criminal work trophy. To have the top dog in the South West for that award is an achievement. Although Chris Burridge and Flynn won that award, Alaster Bly and Shadow did very well and were very close behind them with their marks."

In addition to the poor weather, the low scoring was put down to the fact that half of the dogs taking part were competing at the regional police dog trials for the first time.

PC Julian Pezzani and his dog Moses were a late entry for Devon and Cornwall police when the original dog suffered a leg injury.

The overall winner of the trials was PC Tony Radford with Jake from Gwent police, but he will not go to the national police dog trials because they did not achieve 70 per cent of the overall marks.

Despite low scoring, the trials provided a stern test for all the dogs and handlers.

Boys in blue take a bow wow

WILTSHIRE Police's dogs and their handlers attended more than 3,000 incidents in the last 12 months.

The dog section was at times 40 per cent below strength due to the premature retirement of three dogs and the deaths of three others.

Of the incidents that they attended, more than 300 arrests were made.

In addition, more than 200 drug searches were carried out.

Three new drugs dogs joined along with three general purpose dogs. They were trained internally, saving the force £27,000.

Dogs and handlers took part in the force's own trials and on March 4 assistant chief constable, Stephen Long, presented the awards. Best young dog went to PC Mike Ware's Jed, who also won the award for tracking and searching.

PC Chris Burridge and Flynn won the trophy for best criminal work while PC Jim Tucker and Ziggy won the award for best obedience.

The operational award for the best action by a specialist dog team was won by PC Neil Sampson and Tazz, who searched the John Murray Building in Swindon and recovered Ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis.

Sgt Ian Partington, head of the dog section, said: "We have a good team that we are rightly proud of."