Four youngsters are tasered by police, and weapon was drawn against a child aged 12

The weapon was also drawn on one occasion against a child aged 12, following a report to police that a person was threatening to kill themself and was holding a piece of glass to their neck. In that incident the Taser was drawn while the child was restrained, to prevent harm, and the weapon was not fired.

In total, there have been 50 incidents in the last three years when officers have taken action involving Tasers, which use a high electrical voltage to stun and temporarily disable the target. Such actions include drawing the device and aiming it with a ‘red dot’ at the target.

However, the statistics show such actions have been greatly reduced since 2011.

During that year it was fired twice at people under 18 years old, with 14 ‘red dot’ incidents and a total of 24 incidents involving Tasers recorded by the force.

A force spokesman said: “In common with all forces, West Yorkshire Police initially introduced Taser as an additional less lethal option for use by authorised firearms officers. With the authority of the then Home Secretary the use of Taser was broadened to Specially Trained Units. Over time the usage of by the West Yorkshire Police has reduced considerably.”