The number of crime suspects recognised by witnesses has almost doubled following the launch of a TV identification system.

Gone are the days when witnesses or victims sat behind one-way viewing windows just feet from offenders.

Victims, especially in sex and murder cases, would feel terrified and intimidated and some would burst into tears at the sight of their assailants.

The fear factor has not entirely disappeared but today witnesses and victims no longer have to see offenders in the flesh and instead view photographs on a television screen.

A database of photographs means virtually any person's description can be matched. The computer selects eight pictures of similar-looking people to appear alongside the image of the suspect. The witness views all nine before being asked if they can identify the offender.

The launch of the Sussex Police identification suite and TV system at Sussex House in Hollingbury, Brighton, has already produced dramatic results.

Out of every hundred old-fashioned identification line-ups, only 25 would produce positive identifications but hits have risen to 45 since the launch.

Witnesses find the surroundings more relaxed and the ordeal far less frightening.

Inspector Carwyn Hughes, force identification officer, said: "Identification evidence carries a lot of weight in court and the new system has definitely increased the number of convictions."

Since the launch last October, the force has built up a database of 10,000 photographs which they share with 14 other forces.

The identification team was stumped recently when it tried to match up pictures with one suspect, a New Zealand Maori, but otherwise it rarely fails to find comparable pictures.

Suspects can no longer dodge the system by refusing to have their own picture taken.

Following an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, suspects who refuse to co-operate will find their picture taken by a camera fixed to a wall in the force custody suite, also in Hollingbury.

If they still manage to evade the system, the amendment gives police powers for custody officers to pin them down while their picture is taken.

Mr Hughes said: "The Government initiative is called 'narrowing the justice gap' and the new identification suite and procedures are certainly doing that."