Hated by cops, plagued with problems and costing millions - but GMP will have to put up with its troubled computer system for at least another year

Cops of all ranks have welcomed Chief Constable Stephen Watson's decision to scrap its troubled computer system, with some officers reportedly breaking into a round of applause at the news. GMP isn't quite free of iOPS yet though.

And neither are they free of the recriminations and costs around the IT disaster.

Bolton West MP Chris Green, who has repeatedly criticised GMP's previous regime for building a bespoke system instead of a tried and trusted one, said: "They went their own way, and got it wrong." The error resulted in 'a fortune in extra costs due to overtime', he told the M.E.N.

The M..E.N. has been told officers burst into a round of applause at one station when the news emerged on Monday morning.

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The force splashed out £27m when it launched a new computer system called iOPS (Integrated Operational Policing System) which went live in July 2019, some 19 months behind schedule. Since then the cost of the project has mushroomed to £69.6m - and rising.

But one part of the system key to the day-to-day running of the force, called PoliceWorks, was plagued with problems from the start. Earlier today Chief Constable Watson emailed everyone in GMP to confirm he had decided PoliceWorks was beyond economic repair and would be scrapped.

He had been sitting on the decision since he was installed almost a year ago, weighing up the cost of trying to fix it against the cost of scrapping it and replacing it. Of the £69.6m splashed out on iOPS since its inception, some £23.2m of it (including money clawed back from the contractor) was spent on PoliceWorks, tax-payer money that many cops will view as wasted.

Millions more will have to be