Mystery surrounds a photograph which appears to show a black police officer on the beat in Oxford almost 100 years ago.

The picture, which was recently discovered in our archives, was taken in Blue Boar Street at about the time of the First World War — 70 years before the city’s first officially recognised black officer.

Assistant Chief Constable Brian Langston, chairman of Thames Valley Police Black Police Association, described the man in the photograph as a potential policing pioneer, and appealed for his descendants to come forward.

Mr Langston said: “It would be quite a revelation if we found an ethnic minority officer back at the time of the First World War.

“When I first looked I thought it was an ethnic minority, but on second glance, is it? I think the jury is out.

“It would be great if people could come forward and give the guy the recognition he deserves. He would be a pioneer and I would like to know a bit more about him.”

The photograph is believed to have been taken some time in 1915, and shows officers walking out of the former Blue Boar Street police station.

A recent historical study showed Britain’s first black police officer walked the beat in 1837 and not in 1967 as previously believed.

Police historian Ken Wells said there were few records on the ethnicity of officers before the formation of Thames Valley Police in 1968.

Mr Wells said: “When I saw this photo I was thinking do we have a black policeman or a badly taken photograph which is badly exposed?

“I am not sure whether someone has taken this photograph to show officers going out on the beat or whether it has been taken to show Oxford’s first black police officer, which would have been very unusual in 1915.

“Unfortunately we have no idea who the first black police officer in Oxford was. This man could well be the first.”

Sgt Peter Reid, now based at Witney, is believed to be Oxford’s first black police officer. He has served with Thames Valley Police from 1985.

Norwell Roberts was lauded as Britain’s first black police officer when he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967.

But recent research revealed PC John Kent, the son of a West Indian slave, was the country’s first ethnic minority police officer. Pc Kent walked the beat in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 1837.

Anyone with any information about the photograph should ring us on 01865 425468.