WPC was from the Met

The caption with this photograph, believed to have been taken between 1919 and 1930, described the policewoman as being from Portsmouth. In fact she was a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police.

The woman in question is wearing a Met Police armband, denoting she was on duty, and the initials MP can be seen on her tunic’s collar. Eddie, from Milton, Portsmouth, says: ‘Portsmouth Borough and later City Police did not have women officers until 1946, the first one being Mabel Futcher.

‘During the Second World War and before, the force had Police Matrons who wore a uniform similar to that depicted, but they were merely used for looking after female prisoners and did not patrol the streets of Portsmouth.’