By Rob Banks, Crime Editor

The new Suffolk Police helicopter was criticised today for being out of proportion with the county’s crime levels.

Despite crime figures being on the increase, the Suffolk force’s decision to buy an Apache Gunship helicopter is seen as wildly over the top.

But county crime expert Lorraine Fisher, 34, caimed the fearsome piece of kit was necessary to deter a worrying increase in apple scrumping and illegal pigeon shooting in the countryside.

The Apache gunship, better known for its use by armed forces around the world, including the US and Israel, has a terrifying array of weaponry available to the two-man crew.

They will be able to target Suffolk’s notorious gangland leaders with a deadly array of cannon machine guns and missile systems capable of smashing any getaway car or stolen bicycle in an instant.

Sidewinder air-to-air missiles will also be used to take out any suspicious kites being flown on Suffolk’s beaches.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Apache has gone on to accidentally blow up a Suffolk vicarage. You can read our coverage of the unfortunate incident by clicking here

Now residents, who spent years moaning about the noise of the old police helicopter hovering over towns and villages, will have to get used to deafening automatic rounds being fired and the terrifying screech of missile strikes instead.

Marjory Dawes, a parish councillor from Orford, which has a deadly criminal culture known the world over, said even though she wanted a stop to crime, the Apache was way over the top.

She said: “Imagine walking the dog one morning and this Apache gunship suddenly appears over the tree tops of Tunstall Forest. It would be like a scene out of Full Metal Jacket or Platoon.

“And how much does this thing cost? Surely it would have been cheaper to keep the old bobby on his bike?”

The actual cost of the Apache is around £13 million, a figure Lorraine Fisher, 34, said was worth every penny. “The rural idyll of living in Suffolk has been shattered by rising crime. Only recently, police found bodies in a cemetery.”

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