The Lancashire police force is examining ways in which the Amazon Echo could be used as an information source for local criminal activity.

The police are thrashing out ways in which the Echo could send out crime bulletins, missing person reports and wanted suspect alerts.

The smart speaker may also have internal use within the force, too, by blasting out reports of recent offenses, internal briefings, incident alerts in real-time and daily crime logs.

According to the publication, however, the speaker may also act as a conduit for victims and witnesses to connect to law enforcement by reporting crimes from the haven of their own home.