DOORSTAFF in Falmouth have been given training in American style "arrest and plastic restraint" techniques to handle violent customers while working on the door in local nightclubs and bars.

Up to 12 security officers and doormen attended the course at the MI Bar on Saturday to learn about take-down restraint techniques, handcuffing each other and the new restraints themselves.

The instructor, former Metropolitan and Humberside police officer Andy Walker, who designed the course said: "This is the first nationally accredited and insured handcuffing training course for private security personnel.

"Doormen, store detectives and security officers are facing threats and actual physical violence on a daily basis in some areas, particularly when they have to make arrests. The course helps them to make those arrests safely, protecting themselves and the public from harm."

The course uses a new set of plastic lockable restraints called "key-cuffs" which are imported from the US where they are used by American police officers as their support cuffs.