DIrectors at a hi-tech company which uses ground-breaking techniques to help police solve serious crimes have staged a management buy-out.

Forensic Alliance Ltd (FAL), with laboratories at Culham and at Risley, in Cheshire, has been bought from AEA Technology in a £5m deal.

FAL was formed by AEA Technology in 1998 to take advantage of the deregulation of the forensic service market.

Since then the company has increased its turnover by 1,300 per cent.

It has also increased its staff over the past year from 90 to 120, most of whom work at its Culham headquarters.

FAL is the only full-service forensic science provider in the private sector, providing expert techniques, such as DNA fingerprinting, to more than 35 of the UK's 43 police forces.

It is one of only two companies in the country providing scene-of-crime attendance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

City investors Close Brothers Growth Capital (CBGC), which run a £50m fund, provided all of the money necessary for the buy-out, which was funded by a mixture of debt and equity.

The chief executive of FAL, Dr Angela Gallop, who led the management buy-out team, said: "The funding package put together by CBGC fits our needs exactly and will help us to continue our intended growth."

Garrett Curran of CBGC said: "We're delighted to make this investment in FAL, and believe that together we can continue to enhance the role of forensic science in the criminal justice system."