Bruche training centre has turned out officers for 58 years.

CENTREX -or the Central Police Training and Development Authority -is responsible for most training courses available to police forces in the UK.

It was formed two years ago and took over from the Home Office's NationalPolice Training Department.

Bruche, which employs 120 people, is one of five training centres in the country and was opened in 1946.

Probationary police officers normally spend two weeks with their force.

Officers from Lancashire, Cumbria, North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire are then sent to Bruche for a 15- week intensive course.

There they learn skills including the law,powers of arrest and how to give evidence in court.

Recruits are also shown how to gather evidence,police procedures, victim needs and social,political and community issues. This is followed by three written exams.

They are then sent back to their forces where they spend ten weeks under the supervision of a tutor. A further two weeks training prepares them for independent patrolling and they then begin their two year probationary period.