A NEW initiative to help officers comfort children in distressing situations will be rolled out by Cheshire Police later this year.

Pandas4Pandas will see officers armed with specially-designed teddy bears for children when they are in need of emotional support.

One of the black and white panda bears will be in every police car in Cheshire.

Special sergeant Sarah Johns, who is leading the initiative, said: “Teddy bears break down barriers in difficult situations.

"I know from my own experiences of using them when on duty with Cheshire Police that they are highly effective in keeping children calm and stopping them from feeling afraid of the police.

“I’ve used them in cases when a child has run out of the room because they don’t want to talk to a police officer and when attending domestic violence incidents.

“Teddies help to dispel children’s fears and make them feel comfortable in communicating with the police, which is of vital importance in certain cases.”

The idea of teddy bears scheme stems from the Manchester Arena terror attack in May 2017 as well as a domestic violence incident she attended weeks later.

The 38-year-old added: “This child was extremely upset and all I could do was use my communication skills to make her laugh and play with my torch.

“I wished that I had something for this three-year-old girl who was out of her comfort zone and I bet the officers who dealt with the vulnerable young survivors of the Manchester Arena terror attack felt the same.

“As well as being part of Cheshire’s Special Constabulary I am also a teacher. A lot of children at the school where I worked at the time went to the Ariana Grande concert and they were traumatised by what happened that night.

“The Manchester bombing and the domestic violence incident I attended soon after it sparked the idea of using teddy bears to help comfort children in distressing situations."

Special sergeant Johns joined forces with Louise Hough, the manager of Crafty Stitches in Northwich, to get the initiative off the ground.

Louise agreed to knit the bears and and they are now also being made by several knitting groups, including a Women’s Institute group, at no cost to Cheshire Police.