LANCASHIRE Police have revealed that officers deployed Taser guns on 569 occasions between January 1, 2010 and November 5 this year.

The force did not reveal how many times Taser guns had been used on people not charged with an offence, stating it would take too long to compile the information under freedom of information rules.

The force was criticised in October after a blind stroke victim was shot in the back with a 50,000-volt Taser stun gun by an officer who mistook his white stick for a samurai sword. Colin Farmer, 62, launched a bid for compensation following the incident in Chorley, which happened after reports were received of a man walking through the town centre with a martial arts weapon.

Other police forces across the country have revealed their varied use of Taser guns on people who were not charged with any offence.

Fifteen forces in England and Wales provided details of incidents where the weapons had been fired despite criminal charges not being brought by police.

According to Freedom of Information (FOI) responses, Leicestershire Police used Tasers on 21 occasions between January and October this year on people not charged with any offence.

The reasons for using the guns included threats with offensive weapons, preventing serious injury to an individual and resisting arrest.

South Yorkshire Police fired Tasers on 11 people so far this year, including nine who were threatening to self harm.