Officers thanked for offering riot support

Buy photos » Insp Philip Worthington and Insp Mark Ashford inside Number 10 Downing Street. s

OFFICERS from Bromsgrove and Rubery Police have been thanked in Downing Street for their efforts during the riots.

Insp Philip Worthington, part of the force operation support team based at Rubery, and response officer, Insp Mark Ashford, from Bromsgrove Police station, were chosen to represent West Mercia Police at a reception with the Prime Minister, last Wednesday (January 11).

Insp Worthington went to London last August to help the Metropolitan Police with the capital's riots and Insp Ashford was in Birmingham, helping defuse the disturbances there.

Insp Worthington said: "We worked in a different borough of the city each day on 16 to 18-hour long shifts.

"We dealt with incidents of disorder, made arrests for street dealing of crack cocaine, but, what sticks in my mind was walking the streets of Brixton Market, and being pleasantly surprised and uplifted by how friendly and good the majority of people in London were towards the police.'

''It was an unexpected honour to be asked to attend the reception on behalf of West Mercia Police.

"Thankfully our force area only experienced a minor level of disorder last summer, but I know West Mercia staff and officers worked hard to assist other forces who needed our help."

The pair spoke briefly with Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and met Home Secretary Theresa May.

They also got to share their experiences of last summer with their colleagues from other emergency services across the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was also there to thank the emergency services for their help during the trouble.