Shortage of handcuffs predicted

A company that supplies many UK police forces with handcuffs has closed down this week, meaning that many forces will be left with a short-term supply problem.

Hiatt & Company has been making handcuffs and leg-irons, among other restraining mechanisms for more than 200 years.

A police source told The Times that this would undoubtedly cause a problem in the short term, due to the last minute nature of the closure and Hiatt and Company being unable to fulfill orders.

Hiatt refused to say how many pairs of handcuffs it makes for police forces in Britain but confirmed it was by far the biggest supplier.

BAE Systems, Hiatt`s parent company, confirmed that the British business was closing. A spokesman said: “There shouldn`t be any problems with supplies to British police. This isn`t a snap decision and there are contingency plans in place.”

An ACPO spokesperson said: “We don`t anticipate any long-term problems.”