USE of electric taser stun guns in Avon and Somerset has more than doubled in the space of 12 months, according to new figures.

The high-voltage weapons are electric rifles designed to incapacitate someone, usually used when officers are faced with ‘violence or threats of violence’ of severity, say current Government guidelines.

Police have been authorised to use them since Home Office changes brought in in 2007.

Statistics released by the body this month show that the amount of times a taser has been drawn or fired has increased by 152 per cent when comparing July to December 2010 with the same period in 2011.

The increase was the second-highest in the country as a percentage behind Cheshire - although different constabularies cover different area sizes, making cross-country comparisons tricky.

Chief Inspector Yan Georgiou said: “Over the past few years we have trained more officers to use tasers.

“Now as well as firearms officers tasers are also carried by some officers from our traffic and dog sections as well as response teams.

“The result of this is that there are now more officers able to use tasers as a tactical option when dealing with dynamic and dangerous situations.

“The decision to use a taser is never taken lightly but it presents us with a valuable option to diffuse situations and keep our communities safe.

“Our experience has shown that in many cases simply drawing the taser is enough to encourage suspects to comply and in many cases we do not have to use it.”

The number of times police actually fired or held a taser against someone, rather than just drawing or aiming it, increased from 17 times to 58 in the same time period provided by the Home Office, an increase of 241 per cent. The overall increase when comparing the whole of 2010 against 2011 was 71 per cent, with 144 incidences of drawing, aiming or firing against 247 the following year.