Police forces in the UK are demonstrating inconsistent methods in how they distribute body cameras, according to a new survey by the Press Association.

The study comes after Dalian Atkinson, 48, a former Aston Villa football player, died after he was shot with a Taser by a police officer in his hometown, Telford, Shropshire, reported Sky News.

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Both officers, who were not equipped with body cams, are currently "under criminal investigation" by The Independent Police Complaints (IPCC).

Keth Vaz, the chair of the House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee which monitors the policies of British law enforcement agencies and the government, has said that the "lack of consistency" of the police force raises "alarm bells". Vaz stated that "clear guidance" and "transparency" is needed from British police forces.

Fabian Atkinson, the nephew of the ex-Aston Villa player, said: "If they [police] have a weapon and they're going to discharge that weapon, then they need a camera to record that."

Richard Bennett of the College of Policing, told PA: "As the professional body for policing, the college supports forces with training on conducted energy devices (Taser), which is amongst the longest and most comprehensive in the world.

"We issued guidance on body-worn video and carried out two extensive trials to examine how effective it is in areas including domestic abuse, stop and search, arrests and police complaints."

Bennett continued, "Although forces make decisions independently, the trial evidence has shown body-worn video can reduce the number of allegations against officers and forces can use this evidence to inform operational decisions to purchase new technology."

Last year, the Metropolitan Police announced that 22,000 body cameras were to be worn by police officers across London in a trial scheme that runs until 2018. The first cameras were due to be deployed this year.

Announcing the scheme's launch, then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, described the devices as "confidence boosting cameras" which "[help] reduce complaints [against police officers] and make our officers more accountable".

In 2015, official statistics showed that British police used Tasers 10,329 times – a 2% rise from the previous year.