AN URGENT plea has been made for every Hampshire police officer to be issued with potentially life-saving body armour.

Hampshire Police Federation chairman Keith Ward said equipping every frontline officer with a personal issue protective vest, similar to the ones pictured right by two Dorset officers, would cost each council taxpayer just 10p per year.

Speaking at the federation's annual meeting in Winchester last night, Mr Ward said residents could protect officers' lives for less than the price of a bag of crisps.

Calling for a force commitment to the purchase of body armour, he said: "There is a groundswell of frontline officers, and here I include detectives, demanding that there is no further delay in the personal issue of body armour.

"We realise that there are cost implications in the purchase of this necessary kit.

"What price an officer's life? How can we justify cost to the widow, widower or an orphaned child?

"I am not a mathematician, but on a very rough 'guesstimate', I would suggest that 10p per council taxpayer per year would cover that cost."

The call for personal issue bullet and stab proof vests follows a national rise in gun crime.

Although only one person has died in Hampshire as a result of gun-related crime in the past two years, the national figure has risen by a third in the past year.

In May, Hampshire Constabulary was criticised for being one of the last forces in Britain to issue its officers with adequate personal body armour.

The survey by Police Review magazine claimed only 3.8 per cent of Hampshire's officers had their own protective vest.

Although unisex vests are available in every police station in a variety of sizes, body armour is not currently personally issued to each officer.

Equipping every frontline officer across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with their own vest would cost an estimated £1.5m.

Last night, Hampshire Chief Con Paul Kernaghan said the force was working with staff associations and a working group to gather officers' views.

He stressed there were a number of questions that needed answering - such as whether vests would be worn overtly or covertly, what weights were acceptable and whether their use would be mandatory.

"There is one question I will not ask in terms of deciding what the correct policy is and that is cost. Yes, we will push suppliers to get the best deal possible, but money will not impact on the decision as to how we equip the force," he said.

Top cop hints at farewell to W-PC

HAMPSHIRE police could finally be dropping the form WPC.

Last night, Chief Con Paul Kernaghan hinted that use of the prefix "woman" for the ranks of constable and sergeant could be scrapped amid diversity concerns.

Mr Kernaghan revealed an assessment by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) had suggested Hampshire Constabulary did not take the issue of diversity seriously. He told the hundreds of officers gathered at Winchester Guildhall that he did not want a politically correct police force but one which treated colleagues and the community with courtesy and good manners.

Mr Kernaghan said he had asked staff associations to submit their views on what Hampshire police could do to promote diversity within the force.