MORE THAN half a million pounds of funding has been secured by Cheshire Police to help tackle domestic abuse.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, recently secured the funding from the government's Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund

Mr Dwyer said he was delighted at securing the funding and hoped it would make a difference.

"I am delighted that our bid for more than £530,000 of Home Office funding to tackle domestic abuse in Cheshire has been successful," he said.

"Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime, and we must do all we can to wipe it out, including educating young people.

"To that end, this money will go towards our 'Best of Me' model, an early intervention approach which will tackle negative behaviours in perpetrators before there is no turning back.

"We'll also be running an awareness programme in schools so that young people know how to spot unhealthy relationships.

"This extra funding will make a real difference to people's lives, and I look forward to seeing our programmes get under way."

The Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund was designed to help constabularies focus on interventions encouraging behaviour change to help stop perpetrators from committing domestic abuse, with the ultimate aim of preventing further crimes from being committed.

Mr Dwyer added: "Steps are being taken to show those who commit domestic abuse that it isn't ok.

"Perpetrators and victims of domestic abuse aren't confined to one gender and I hope all of the work that we're doing here in Cheshire and that the Government is outlining helps survivors across the board.

"Help and support is out there.

"If we can break the cycle, we can hopefully prevent further victims of abuse."