THE announcement by the Home Office to fund extra armed officers has been welcomed by Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire Police.

The Government department had pledged to provide £143million of new funding to assist forces in areas of England and Wales most at risk to help protect the public from terrorism.

The recruitment and training programme for new officers is already underway. The Government’s steps to distribute further armed officers around the country mean police in England and Wales have started training around 1,000 extra firearms officers, equipped to respond to incidents like last year’s Paris attacks.

There will be 400 outside the capital. Other officers will receive even more specialised training to deal with a wider range of terrorism threats.

In addition to the extra officers, funds will also be used to increase the number of high speed armed response vehicles available.

The Home Office grant will up the numbers by 30 per cent to around 150 in key regions – but added to local funding the eventual number of crewed vehicles operating around the clock will be between 170 and 190 country-wide.

Numbers completing the courses will increase incrementally with most qualifying within a year, and all by April 2018.

The money is on top of the sum already pledged by individual chief constables to increase the number of armed officers under their command. This will result in a further 500 who are locally funded.

Currently there are 5,875 firearms-trained officers across England and Wales, according to Home Office figures – down more than 1,000 since 2008.

But while neither Sussex nor Surrey Police will benefit directly from the money, both forces said they are developing plans to increase firearms capabilities.

Sussex Police tactical firearms command Superintendent Sharon Bush said: “We welcome the increase in funding regionally, as this will enhance the specialist capability available to us in the event of a major incident in either county.

“We are also developing plans, in consultation with regional partners across the South East, about how we can increase our firearms capabilities in order to put us in a stronger position to protect the public from terrorism.”

Welcoming more armed officers on the streets of Hampshire to protect the public from terrorism, Scott Chilton, Hampshire’s Acting Assistant Chief Constable, said the boost will help build on the forces’ work to date.

“We have been developing plans for many months, supported by our Police and Crime Commissioners,” he said. “This increase in national funding is welcome as it will put us in an even stronger position to respond quickly and effectively to protect the public.

“We have been working with regional partners across the South East for some time to make sure that, when recruited and trained, these resources will be deployed to best effect.

“We will be announcing more details of the specific local plans for Hampshire and Thames Valley in the coming weeks.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council head of armed policing, Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, added: “Over recent years we have significantly enhanced the training, tactics and weaponry of armed officers to ensure that they are capable of dealing with all types of terrorist attacks.

“We have also delivered enhanced capability across all emergency services to deliver an effective joint response. This additional uplift will ensure we are in an even stronger position to respond quickly and effectively to protect the public.”

The Metropolitan Police have ramped up patrols of armed officers in London to tackle the risk of a terrorist attack.

An extra 600 were announced in January, bringing the capital’s total up to 2,800.

However, with so much attention placed on London, some feared it had left other “softer targets” around the UK more appealing for would-be terrorists.