POLICE used a taser on a woman armed with a knife in Three Legged Cross.

Officers were called to the village near West Moors at around 11.30pm last Thursday.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said they had “received a report of a woman brandishing a knife at Joys Road”.

They added: “Officers attended and a taser was deployed.

“The woman was then detained and taken to a place of safety.”

The woman was aged 51.

Police are not seeking to bring any criminal charges against her.

Dorset Police have used tasers 40 times in 2011 and 53 times in 2010.

The weapon fires two barbs which then attach to the skin or clothing and delivers an electrical charge of up to 50,000 volts.

Officers qualified to use it include firearms officers, public order instructors and Specially Trained Taser Officers.

According to a report from July 2011, Dorset Police has 148 tasers.

A police spokesman added: “The woman was in the street when officers arrived.

“There is no suggestion that she threatened anyone.”