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Three adorable puppies have become the latest graduates of Durham Constabulary's police dog training programme.

What is special about the trio is that they have all overcome tricky starts in life after being abandoned at just a few weeks old.

The dogs, now aged between 14 and 18 months, are called Jasper, Dutch and Axel, and have now passed their final assessments to become officially registered police dogs.

Jasper and Axel are Belgian Malinois and Dutch is an Alsatian, also known as a German Shepherd.

A Durham police spokesperson said: "All three hit the ground running, jumping straight into the ten-week intensive training course.

"This week they became officially registered police dogs, passing their final assessments with flying colours, and we wish them the very best."

The eldest dog, Jasper, was found by two women in a greenhouse in Manchester when he was just seven weeks old and has been described as being extra special with hidden talents.

He will be teaming up with PC Dan Cuthbertson to specialise in general purpose policing, which includes tracking and stopping suspects, searching for missing people, recovering evidence, and discouraging bad behaviour at public events.

Axel, who is now 14 months old, was abandoned in a cardboard box outside a charity shop in Darlington when he was 12 weeks old. He was taken to the vets to be checked over and was later adopted.

His owner then took him to the Police Dog Support Unit and says he was "full of mischief" and had a "strong character".

He will join up with PC Paul Cooper to become the force’s youngest licensed police dog.

Meanwhile Dutch was given to officers two months ago and will now serve with handler PC Laura Linskey to hunt for suspects and search for missing people.