A POLICE initiative to support children and teenagers who have witnessed domestic abuse has been rolled out across the county.

Operation Encompass was launched to help support the most vulnerable children in the community and protect them from the impact of domestic abuse.

It aims to better prepare staff at schools to deal with pupils who have experienced this form of abuse.

Cheshire Police will aim to let appropriate staff aware of children who have witnessed this time of offence so they have the support systems in place for when they arrive at school.

Police and crime commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer said: "It's about supporting children who have been subjected to or witness domestic violence.

"It's about giving support to children who may have to go into school the next day with the thought of what happened the night before in their minds.

"It's about encouraging all the agencies in the county to pull together to give the child the right support for them to overcome the trauma of the domestic violence incident they have witnessed."

Chief constable Simon Byrne added: "This is a new initiative which will roll out across Cheshire involving the police tipping off more than 500 schools that deal with children between the ages of four and 18 about incidents of domestic abuse which are reported to us everyday.

"We have a number of issues here. Firstly we need to protect the immediate victims when that crime has taken place but the consequence of that ripple out into families who might have seen something go on."

Operation Encompass is an initiative that follows in the footsteps of a successful programme in Plymouth.

Cllr Jean Carter, executive member for children and young people's services, welcomed the scheme after attending the launch of Operation Encompass.

She said: "I think it is vital and really worthwhile because the pilot has shown it works.

"For me it is about supporting children and as they are in school every weekday they need that support there."