A DORSET Police sergeant who produced dedicated PPE packs for frontline officers hopes the practice may be copied by forces across the UK.

Police Federation representative Tim Ward, a patrol sergeant based at Bournemouth, coordinated the special personal protective equipment packs to help fellow officers stay safe.

Tim, who has 18 years' service, established a bank of sealed boxes which were specifically labelled.

They include FP3 face masks, aprons and goggles and were put into frontline police vehicles at the start of each shift and then signed back in afterwards when officers finished work.

Equipment used by officers during the shift were replenished immediately after the sealed containers were thoroughly sanitised.

Mr Ward, speaking to the Police Federation, the organisation that supports after rank-and-file officers, said: "I think every force has probably had the same experience of sorting PPE kit effectively. I decided to collect the kit and create eight boxes which are available for our crews.

“These dedicated Covid-19 boxes have all the protective gear in one place.

"This means officers don’t have to worry or think about individually collecting their own PPE equipment before a shift and this makes life less of a stress.

“The force has been really supportive and if I’ve done a small thing then it has all been worth it.

"I’d urge others to look at this idea as it is really effective."

Day-to-day activities at Dorset have also been specially adapted to help cope with the difficulties of coping with Covid-19, says the federation.

Double traffic crews have been kept together as often as possible for shifts, and officers sit a desk apart and sanitise everything including steering wheels.

Shift changes are also done as quickly as possible, to minimise contact officers.

Mr Ward said: "We’ve a brilliant team here and every member of staff is pulling together.

"If what I’ve done makes a tiny difference, then I’ll be really proud.”