Chief Constable Francis Habgood and members of his senior management team will be walking 26 miles along the Thames Path tomorrow to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Thames Valley force he runs.

Speaking about the challenge Chief Constable Habgood said: “Our route will take us through the three counties of Thames Valley Police: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire as we walk along the Thames. We will be raising money for Mind, the mental health charity, which provides support to our officers and staff.

“This is a great opportunity to recognise both our 50th anniversary and the work of Mind.”

Thames Valley Constabulary was formed in 1968 when three county constabularies merged along with Reading Borough and Oxford City. A change of name followed in 1970 making Thames Valley Police the largest non-metropolitan force in the country.

Chief Constable Habgood added: "Thames Valley is an incredible place to police and I love working here. We have over 2.3 million residents in our force area and about six million visitors.

“I have been in policing for more than 30 years and the rate of change has accelerated massively.

“Our core principles remain the same: protecting the public, preventing crime and disorder, investigating crime and bringing offenders to justice, however the landscape is now more complex and we need to make sure we continue to stay ahead of this challenge.

“I feel proud and privileged to be leading the service on this milestone anniversary.”

Follow their progress on Instagram @ThamesValleyPolice and Twitter @TVP_Chief via the hashtags #TVP50 and #Thamespathchallenge Sponsorship to this great cause will be appreciated.