Taser usage in London has dropped in the last six months.

The latest government figures released this week show a reduction in the use of the taser by the Metropolitan Police. 

The last six months has seen usage drop by 11.7 per cent compared with the previous six month period - with the taser being used on 132 fewer occasions.

Between January and June 2014 it was used by officers 992 times, compared with 1124 for the July to December 2013 period. 

This is the first reduction in six-month figures since 2011.

Police say the taser, first issued to the Met in 2003, is used in situations involving violence or threats of violence with such severity that officers would need to use force to protect the public or themselves.