ROAD closures for police crash investigations are to be cut by up to 40 minutes with the latest laser technology.

Thames Valley Police yesterday unveiled three new laser scanners they believe will help them re-open roads more quicly.

Frustrated motorists frequently complain roads are closed for too long while police carry out their investigations. But the new scanners will quickly create a 3D image of a scene of an accident and a video fly-through can be generated later on a computer.

Officers have previously had to painstakingly record every dimension manually.

Gary Baldwin, supervisor for the Thames Valley Police forensics collision team, said: “They are very fast to capture the scene of a crash.

“Hopefully the amount of time in queues and congestion will be reduced.

“But they record a tremendous amount of detail. It’s so much better than just a piece of paper. Presentation of evidence at crown court and inquests will be of a lot higher standard.”

He said a simple two-car collision could take 45 minutes to record manually and 12 minutes with the new equipment.

He added: “We are one of the few people tasked with investigations that have very hard time considerations to gather the evidence.

“We have to get the job done really quickly.

“This is really just a huge leap forward. There will still be plenty of congestion but hopefully we will be doing our bit to reduce it.”

Twenty-two forces across the country are sharing the £2.7m cash pot announced by the Department for Transport yesterday. The shared Thames Valley and Hampshire forensics collision investigations unit was awarded £395,675 for five of the scanners.

One of them will be based at the unit’s Bicester office and could also be used at crime scenes.

Motorway closures following accidents are thought to cost the nation’s economy £1 billion a year.

And last night Rodney Rose, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport, said it was important for the county to keep the roads open.

He said: “They have always got that conflict of getting all the information they need whilst there is the need to get the road back open.

“If it speeds up that process and gives them the accuracy they need then that’s fantastic.

“The affect on the county economy will also be helped by the traffic moving better.

“At least half the traffic on the road is delivering goods so if that’s held up it affects the economy. “There will also be staff driving to work or to the shops. “A road closure depresses what is being done in the county generally.”

Wantage Town Councillor John Morgan, who drives 30,000 miles a year for his sales job, said: “If it stops roads from being blocked I’m all for it. “It’s important for everybody because you get frustrated when you are stuck in a queue.”

“If your roads are flowing smoothly then that’s a good thing.”