A new £13.9 million Forensic Laboratory has opened in Holywood.

'The Locard Building' was officially opened by Justice Minister David Ford at Seapark.

It provides state-of-the-art facilities to deliver high quality forensic science services to the criminal justice system.

Minister Ford said: "This building provides forensic facilities which set the standard for the avoidance of contamination; a crucial element of 'trace' forensic evidence, where minute levels of substances and materials are recovered, identified and interpreted. This is particularly important for today's ultra-sensitive forensic techniques.

"The laboratory has been built to ensure optimum throughput and efficiency. Together with a new IT system which will come on line later this year, productivity will increase and turnaround times will improve, ultimately speeding up the time it takes to bring cases to court, and supporting my policy of Faster, Fairer Justice."

Stan Brown, Chief Executive of FSNI, said: "This new facility has been built to BREEAM Excellent standards, a recognised measure of a building's environmental performance.

"The building meets the very latest in sustainability and renewal standards, utilising rainwater harvesting, solar power and a combined heat and power unit for energy, heat capture and air management functions."

(CD/JP)