PEOPLE who beat their partners face an increased risk of being prosecuted as police in County Durham launch a two-month crackdown on domestic violence.

The Durham force hopes more offenders will be arrested and taken to court, thanks to better evidence-gathering.

Frontline officers called to incidents will be accompanied by officers trained to deal with domestic violence and scenes of crimes officers armed with digital camcorders to capture vital evidence.

The force hopes that with better evidence, more offenders will be charged and that the conviction rate will rise.

There were 8,500 reports of domestic violence last year across the county, and police made arrests in 86 per cent of cases.

Detective Inspector Marian Garland, of the force's north division vulnerability unit, said: "The aim of the campaign is to secure the best evidence possible, so that the perpetrator can be arrested, charged and ultimately convicted.

"Visual evidence, including the victim's injuries and damage to property, recorded with a camcorder at the scene, will be copied onto a DVD and shown via a dedicated laptop computer to an accused during interview, and thereafter used as part of the prosecution case.

"We need to get the message across that domestic violence is a serious criminal offence, and demonstrate both support and commitment to the victims throughout the criminal process.

"We are particularly keen to target repeat offenders and thereby minimise the number of victims who are forced to endure this terrible ordeal in their own homes.''

The sensitive programme, which starts on Friday, is being funded by the Police Standards Unit and the Government Office North-East.

The force's communications staff are being trained to ensure they are supportive to victims reporting offences and get as much information as they can from the caller.

Each shift will have a domestic violence specialist, a uniformed officer who will have specialist training and will guide officers attending domestic violence incidents.

The force hopes the crackdown, which other forces are also doing, will give victims of domestic violence better support.

Domestic violence cases in County Durham will be heard by the "sensitive case'' courts, set up in January of last year to provide better support for victims and witnesses