SIX senior police officers from Sierra Leone have visited Wirral to spend a week with local officers as part of a training programme.

They are students on the International Commanders Programme, which is designed for senior overseas police officers, and are training at Centrex - the Central Police Training and Development Authority.

During their stay they will be gaining first-hand experience in all aspects of operational policing, including divisional command, public order, community policing, major incident room co-ordination and firearms training.

Mr Bob Deen-Kamara, chairman for Black and Ethnic Minorities in Liverpool, who was himself born in Sierra Leone, represented the officers, told the Globe: " The British Government is doing very well in assisting in the training of the officers. In Sierra Leone, a lot of security measures need to be put into place to tackle the issues of drugs and crime.

"We are very concerned with this, but need much more sophisticated equipment, as Sierra Leone has become a base for a lot of drug trafficking. Specialist training in crime and drugs is needed to tackle the problem in a sufficient way."

Their visit to Heswall will give the officers insight into specialist areas, such as criminal investigation and large-scale public order control. Coming from a country of war, overwhelmed with drugs and crime the officers will benefit hugely from the experience of British policing.

Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: "We are delighted to welcome the officers to Merseyside and we are looking forward to sharing the wealth of knowledge and different experiences that the UK and overseas officers can learn from."