A PRISONER stole a handgun and ammunition after police officers left them unsecured in a patrol car, it emerged last night.

The two officers left the 9mm handgun, bullets and a Taser stun gun in the front of the armed response car as it was parked outside Stockton police station.

The weapons were missing for at least 14 hours while officers launched a search, before raiding a house in Middlesbrough yesterday after- noon.

A man was arrested and police recovered the Sig pistol, Taser gun and bullets.

Last night, Cleveland Police said the guns had been left in the footwell of the car and had not been locked in a secure gun cabinet as they should have been.

The two officers from the armed response vehicle have been suspended from firearms duties and the matter voluntarily referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A 24-year-old, who was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and was in the car on Sunday night, has been re- arrested on suspicion of theft.

Assistant Chief Constable Derek Bonnard said: "I fully appreciate how concerned the public must be that such dangerous weapons can be stolen, and I share their concerns.

"A full investigation is under way to establish how this happened."

The two firearms officers had been out on a routine patrol on Sunday when they arrested a man from Middlesbrough on suspicion of drink-driving.

He was taken to Stockton police station for formal testing.

The police officer escorted the prisoner into the station, leaving his weapons behind in the footwell of the vehicle with the second officer, while it was parked outside the station.

When the suspect had completed the drink-driving tests, which proved negative, the two officers drove him back in their vehicle to Cannon Park, Middlesbrough, where he had left his motorcycle.

Shortly afterwards, the officers realised the weapons were missing and raised the alarm.

The Ford Galaxy car was outside the police station from about 11.30pm to midnight, and it is during this time that police believe the weapons were stolen.

Every Cleveland Police officer was alerted to the missing guns. The weapons were eventually recovered when police raided a house in Chelmsford Walk, Middlesbrough, shortly after 1pm yesterday.

Mr Bonnard said the officers would be suspended from firearms duties until the investigation was concluded.

Last night, police did not say when exactly the man was believed to have stolen the guns and whether he could have been armed with them while he was being driven back to Cannon Park.

Taser guns fire mini-barbed probes at a suspect, who is immediately incapacitated by a 5,000-volt shock.

Suspects fall to the ground and are subdued for about five seconds. There is no lasting effect.

Cleveland Police officers were issued with the US-made stun guns last December.

Last month, the force used the Tasers for the first time, when two were fired simultaneously to prevent a man from harming himself in Stockton.