POLICE officers in Newham are carrying gadgets that allow them to check a person's criminal record on the spot.

The officers, from British Transport Police, are trialling the hand-held computers or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) at West Ham Underground station.

The PDAs allow officers to check a person's criminal history in a stop and search situation by entering their details into a device linked to a police database.

It is hoped the use of the gadgets will save police time as officers previously had to radio details back to another officer and wait for them to be checked.

The British Transport Police Chief Supt Paul Crowther said: "The PDA is critical to our crime-fighting activities both on the Tube and in our local communities and they have quickly become an essential piece of kit.

"Ticket touts, those who assault staff and people bent on anti-social behaviour should beware."

It is hoped that all British Transport Police officers will be using PDAs when on patrol by the end of January.

The move comes after an announcement that ten police forces in the UK, including the Met, will be testing a device that enables officers to fingerprint motorists on the spot.

Some groups have warned that the move is an infringement of civil liberties, but police insist that prints will not be kept on file.