Royal Wedding: Thames Valley Police re-issues helmet

The traditional British police helmet will be reintroduced for officers of a force ahead of the royal wedding.

Following a trial in Reading, the BBC understands a decision has been made by Thames Valley Police (TVP) to re-issue the so-called custodian helmets in May.

TVP ditched the headgear in 2009, but they will be rolled out again to frontline officers.

TVP Federation said the £30,000 cost would be better spent on "health and welfare" services for officers.

A source told the BBC the helmets were set to be distributed in time for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel in Windsor on 19 May.

PC Craig O'Leary, federation chairman, said officers thought the re-introduction of helmets was a "costly PR exercise" due to them being issued in time for the royal wedding.

He added: "It's worth remembering that you have to have officers out on the street on patrol in order to wear these helmets.

"If you speak to most members of the public in Thames Valley, you would find it's very rare that they see bobbies out on the beat, on foot, unless they're in the town centre and doing that kind of patrol work."

Police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld previously said feedback from officers in the Reading trial was that they had been "thrilled to wear" the helmets.

However, some officers said the headgear was "not practical".

Helmets were withdrawn as part of a review into police uniform in 2009.

Since 2010/11, TVP has had to make £99m of savings, which has resulted in a reduction of more than 450 police officers, figures show.

A budget of £405m was approved in January amid further cuts of £14.3m until 2020/21.