NORTHUMBRIA Police are shining a light on domestic abuse and how people can access support.

Since last year, specialists from North East services Wearside Women in Need and Harbour have worked with police staff.

The scheme, funded by police and crime commissioner Kim McGunniess, sees specialists located within control rooms help contact handlers offer support and guidance to those suffering from domestic abuse.

Northumbria Police's domestic abuse lead, detective chief inspector Les Goodliff, said: “Protecting victims is at the heart of everything we do at Northumbria Police, that’s why we’re proud to work closely with specialists from domestic abuse charities."

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“Our key message here is - you are not alone and help is available. Thanks to funding from our PCC and support from charities, we’re doing all we can to make the process of reporting domestic abuse seem less daunting.

“We will do everything we can do to support you, which can include finding safe accommodation for you and any dependents or by removing abusers from homes.” 

Northumbria Police and crime commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: "We know that for 45 per cent of the victims who engaged with the domestic abuse specialist workers in the control room, it was the first time they’d ever spoken to a specialist domestic abuse worker and many of these victims consented to being referred into their local domestic abuse service."

"So, this is a really great example of how early interventions can work, and how we can look to improve lives of victims and their children.”