GWENT Police will host an event at the end of the month to encourage more women to join the force.

It comes as figures reveal just one-third of officers hired recently in Gwent were women.

Data from the Home Office shows that female recruits made up just 35 per cent of the 314 police officers hired by Gwent Police between April 2020 – when gender breakdowns of new officers were first recorded nationally – and March this year.

This was among the lowest of all police forces in England and Wales, and also lower than across Wales and England as a whole, where 42 per cent of new police recruits were female.

Speaking ahead of the Gwent Police event, deputy chief constable Amanda Blakeman said: “We want our workforce to be representative of the communities we serve, and we want to encourage more women into policing.

“We’ve already welcomed new female officers into the force as part of national and local recruitment campaigns."

A recent round of promotions saw women making up nearly half of the candidates successful in making sergeant.

Dep Ch Con Blakeman said the "high proportion" of women in Gwent Police's senior management team "indicate that gender is not a barrier to achievement in our force".

She added: "Policing is an excellent career, and we encourage anyone who would like to help make a difference in our local communities, to join us."

Anyone interested in attending the Gwent Police informal event on Tuesday, May 31 can register at tinyurl.com/womeningwentpolice

There'll be the opportunity to speak to some of the force's female officers and learn more about their work and career progression.

Across Wales and England, data shows women made up at least half of new recruits in just three forces - Lancashire, Great Manchester, and Derbyshire.

By contrast, Wiltshire Police recruited the fewest female officers, at just 33 per cent.

Additional reporting by Will Grimond, data reporter for the Radar news service.