Springer Spaniel puppies for sale in Cornwall

Devon and Cornwall Police said it was the first force in the country to train the breed, which will be used in search operations.

The three springer spaniels began work in July and have now been considered a success, a spokesman said.

Traditionally, the force has deployed German shepherd dogs which have a range of specialist search skills but are used mainly for tracking criminals.

Insp Andrew Lilburn said the spaniels were ideally suited to Devon and Cornwall’s rural terrain.

The force dog inspector added: "Our existing general purpose dogs are fantastic at what they do but vulnerable people are often scared when confronted by a German shepherd dog.

"These lost person search dogs have no other skills and are pure specialists in finding people who are lost."

The police force obtained the dogs as puppies from local breeders and trained them to recognise human scent.

Insp Lilburn said they could be used to find walkers lost in bad weather, vulnerable young people who have run away or people who are intent on harming themselves.

“We are most often called out to find elderly people with dementia who have wandered off from home and the dogs are invaluable in these instances, ” he said.

The dogs have already taken part in a number of rescues, including that of a vulnerable young man found in open countryside at night after he ran away from home.