Police in Suffolk have a new device to help them identify the owners of escaped animals.

The force has bought 11 multi-chip scanners which can read a wide-range of microchips.

Suffolk Constabulary hope the devices will be particularly useful in identifying horses found fly-grazing, abandoned or escaped, or animals involved in a collision with a car.

A scanner will be located at police stations across the county including Ipswich, Stowmarket, Woodbridge, and Halesworth.

Pc Mark Bryant, rural crime officer, said: “We are often dealing with cases involving loose animals, in particular horses illegally grazing on private land, where identifying who they belong to can be a time consuming process.

“These new scanners should greatly reduce the time officers have to spend resolving these matters, whilst enabling us to locate owners and reunite them with their animals.”

Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, added: “Rural crime is one of my key priorities, it’s an important element of my Police and Crime Plan for the county.

“I am very pleased to see this investment in equipment which will particularly assist the rural policing teams to deal more efficiently with stray animals. They will also help reduce the distress of the animals as they are reunited with their owners more swiftly, which is equally important.”