Nottinghamshire's chief constable Steve Green says the number of gun-carrying officers is being doubled in the gun-crime plagued city.

He says he wants criminals to know they stand every chance of being arrested.

"The key to what we have to do is turn around the perception that the criminals are the ones who have the guns and control the streets," Mr Green told BBC News.

Gang warfare

The police will also make greater use of stop and search powers in parts of the city where gun crime is a problem.

"I realise this will inconvenience some law-abiding people, but we need to keep the streets safe."

Stop and search checks will increase

Two recent murders in the city include the suspected drug-related killing of a woman who was shot in the head from behind outside a nightclub in Radford on 9 September.

A few days earlier a man was killed in a flat in Bestwood in a shooting that is being linked to gang warfare.

"In the cold light of day, I think most people would want an unarmed police force and so would I, but we need an armed element commensurate with the threat," said Mr Green.

Asked whether all police officers should be armed, Mr Green said: "We have 2,400 officers and it would be logistically impossible to train them all as armed officers."