UCLan photofit insight

Recognition rates of police photofit portraits can in some cases be doubled by caricaturing and animating them, researchers at the University of Central Lancashire and Stirling University have found. Charlie Frows, from UCLan's department of psychology, said: "This new research finds that a composite, especially a bad one, is much better identified if seen as a moving caricature.

"If the police used caricature animation on TV crime programmes, the identification of criminals should substantially improve."

The team found recognition rates could improve from 40 per cent to as much as 80 per cent when the computerised system was employed.