Police fears over 'inexperienced' officers getting hurt ahead of Victorious Festival and Portsmouth FC versus Southampton at Fratton Park

Hampshire Police Federation chair Zoë Wakefield admitted it ‘a real worry’ that up to a third of police officers are inexperienced and young in service.

The worry has been magnified amid looming large-scale events. Boomtown music festival is now underway at the Matterley Estate in South Downs National Park, near Winchester, until Sunday, while Victorious Festival will take place on Southsea Common from August 26-28.

Pompey and Saints have also been drawn against each other in the second round of the Hampshire Senior Cup at Fratton Park on September 12.

The concern over a lack of experience was highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee which recently claimed up to a third of all police officers in England and Wales will be inexperienced as part of the government’s 20,000 officer uplift programme.

Ms Wakefield said: ‘The vast majority of officers who have joined Hampshire are good. But there are a lot of things you can’t teach, including dealing with public-order situations, like festivals and football matches.

‘We’ve got the Boomtown music festival, Victorious Festival, we’ve got two big Saints football matches, other big matches, and because resources are so stretched there will be very inexperienced officers there.

‘You can’t just rely on the experienced ones, you have to take the inexperienced ones as well. It is a real worry because we obviously don’t want any of our officers to get injured or face any real disorder, but it’s hard without that experience and being able to read a situation.’

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