Battered women to get "panic rooms"

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) Victims of domestic violence should be given reinforced ''panic rooms'' in their homes to protect them from abusive partners, the British government has said.

Ministers have pledged extra money to pay for safe havens in more women's homes after they said trials across England had been a success.

The secure rooms are fitted with toughened doors and locks and are designed to give women a safe place to take refuge when a violent partner arrives at their house.

Some have cameras and alarms linked to the local police station.

''It has been tested in some areas and 90 per cent of women are satisfied with that,'' Women and Equality Minister Meg Munn told the BBC yesterday. ''It has enabled them to feel safer and to live a more normal life.'' Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly will announce new guidance to local councils on how to set up the schemes later yesterday, said a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

It will also give 74 million pounds of funding.

Refuge, a charity which helps victims of domestic violence, said more must be done to tackle offenders.

''It does concern me that we don't seem to be working to prevent the problem in the first place,'' its Chief Executive Sandra Horley told BBC radio. ''If the man is that much of a threat surely the solution is to make sure that he is locked up.'' Domestic violence accounts for 17 per cent of violent crime, the government says. Prime Minister Tony Blair wants more courts that deal specifically with the problem.

REUTERS PB ND0946