KIDDERMINSTER Harriers fan John Bulmer attends all the club's games - home and away - but does not see much of the action on the pitch.

He is the Kidderminster Police football liaison intelligence officer for Harriers, a role that means he has to keep his eye on what is happening around the rest of the ground.

With Harriers' promotion to the Nation-wide League, the job has taken on a new dimension, with the club's higher status.

"I don't get to see much of the games at all these days," said John, aged 46. "It's since they have got into the Football League.

"At one time, I was a believer there was no difference between the top Conference clubs and the Third Division but there is - in the standard of football and among the fans.

"Between the fans it's more hostile, more uneasy. That's something I've noticed and so have my colleagues."

Fortunately, that is true of other clubs, rather than Harriers, according to John, who said: "Kidderminster Harriers are still very much a family club. The supporters are very much family-orientated. Our fans never present a problem."

He does wish, however, that more Kidderminster fans would follow their side away.

Stourport-born John, a father-of-four, knew during his teenage years that he wanted to join the police.

He said: "In those days, I wanted an outdoor life.

"Although the carpet industry was still in its prime at that time, I didn't relish working in a factory environment. I wanted an outdoor environment and I wanted to meet the public."

After attending Franche Primary and Sladen Secondary Modern schools, he became a West Mercia Constabulary cadet and trained at the former police training school in Droitwich.

After joining the force full-time at 19, he moved around the West Mercia area, being based at various times at Shrewsbury and Whitchurch in Shropshire and the headquarters at Hindlip Hall, near Worcester, as well as Kidderminster and Stourport.

He worked in the traffic section and liaised with contractors working on the M5 widening around Worcester in the late 1970s.

He returned to Kidderminster, where he lives, in 1990.

In that role, he is registered with the National Criminal Intelligence Service, which means he swaps information with other officers like himself up and down the country to ward off potential flashpoints among fans at games.

"First and foremost, I'm there to do a job," said John. "I'm not there to watch the game. If I get 10 minutes where I can watch the game - great."