IN some matters, by no means all, the good burghers of Worcester have dragged their feet over the years.

One of the lesser known but more contentious in today’s climate was the introduction of women officers to the city police force.

It took almost 30 years from the Home Office telling them to get on with it in March 1919 to them actually doing it in 1948.

All sorts of excuses were offered along the way but when the first policewoman did eventually report for duty on January 29, 1948, it was the start of a very useful career.

For Margaret Carr, who began as PW1 in Worcester, went on to become a chief inspector in West Riding Constabulary.

Worcester City Police basically policed within the city’s 30mph limit and beyond that was the territory of Worcestershire Constabulary.

It had been formed in 1833 and was one of four forces amalgamated to create West Mercia in 1967.

The irony was that, for all the obfuscation over women officers, Worcester Police had actually employed women for a great many years to look after the needs of female prisoners but without the status of constable.

There existed the role of Police Matron which in 1898 attracted a wage of £5 per year. By 1937 this had risen to £10.

It was the two World Wars which put wind in the sails of the Worcester policewomen project.

In April 1915, at the behest of the local Conservative and Unionist Women’s Franchise Association, the city’s Watch Committee established women’s patrols in Worcester for the protection of girls on the streets.

All volunteers and members had to be registered and could only work with the approval of the Chief Constable.

They were issued with a number and a badge but were not connected to the mainstream force.

The patrols were obviously a success because in 1919 the Home Office urged the appointment of women as an adjunct to Worcester City Police. But no action was taken.

In June 1926 the government made a move to make the national appointment of policewomen compulsory but Worcester Watch Committee, along with many others across the country, expressed disapproval.

Indeed, the following year, responding to a public meeting in the city, Chief Constable Oswald Cole said: “I feel it not necessary to appoint policewomen in this city.”

Subsequent approaches from the National Council of Women of Great Britain and Worcestershire Federation of Women’s Institutes also fell on stony ground.

However, come the Second World War and with Ernest Tinkler at the helm, four women were appointed to Worcester Women’s Auxiliary Police Corps and in 1943 two of them became Worcester Police War Reserve Constables for the duration of the war.

In 1944 the Home Office decided the project was so successful it was 'essential' police forces should include an 'adequate' number of women and set Worcester’s establishment at five.

Yet again the watch committee took no notice and it was four years later before Margaret Carr crossed the threshold of the Deansway station as a full force member. But only then as a plain clothes member of CID.

A uniformed policewomen’s department took until August 1949 to materialise and it was not until May 1953 that Worcester City Police got its first Policewoman Sergeant.

So it got there in the end and here are a few more images of Worcester City Police over the years. Evening all.