CHRISTMAS has come early at a police dog training school - and with modern technology the whole world can share the joy.

Becky, Durham Police's three-year-old German shepherd, was due to give birth on Christmas Day. But in the early hours of Saturday in police kennels at The Barnes, in Spennymoor, County Durham, she gave birth to five healthy puppies.

Puppy cam, a webcam installed in Becky's kennel and linked to the force website, gives up-to-the minute snapshots of Becky and the five puppies, all bitches and yet to be named.

Dog training supervisor Paul Hedges said mother and pups were fit and well and the birth, two days ahead of a full 63-day term, went smoothly.

He said: "Becky is settling down nicely and the births were fine.

"When the pups are about six to seven weeks old they will be allocated to handlers.

"It will be ten to 12 months before we start training them, but because we have had these as pups we would expect the training to be a little bit quicker and they should be out working on the streets in about 16 to 18 months.

"The dogs will be worked until they are about seven years of age, so if somebody's dog is about to be retired we would look towards putting one of the pups with them for that last year."

The litter is the force's fourth since it resumed its breeding programme and the pups' names will all begin with the letter D.

One is destined to become a Northumbria Police dog because it was Northumbria which provided the dog that sired Becky.

One will be kept as a pet for future breeding programmes and two already have handlers waiting for them in Durham. The others may be offered to other forces.

The webcam is focused on the puppy whelping box and while Becky is able to move out of shot, it is expected she will now stay with the pups.

The force website address is www.durham.police.uk and the puppy cam can be accessed via the home page.