Armed police officers in Cumbria responded to a record-low number of incidents last year, new figures reveal.

It came amid a drop in operations across England and Wales, despite a temporary raising of the UK’s terror threat level last autumn.

Home Office data shows Cumbria Constabulary deployed armed police to 38 incidents in the year to March. That was down from 60 in 2019-20, and the lowest number since comparable records began in 2008-09.

Chief Superintendent Sarah Jackson said the reduction in armed police responses can be attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Throughout Covid-19, demand for traditional policing services did reduce. Therefore, some of the reduction in incidents in which armed police responded can be attributed to the impact of the social restrictions that were placed on us all.

“Cumbria remains one of the safest places to live and the number of incidents in which we deploy armed officers has year on year decreased.

"The safety of the public is our absolutely priority and in order to ensure that we can achieve that, it is sometimes necessary to deploy armed officers. These officers are deployable across our county and receive continuous training.”