The face of the Thames Valley Police Roads Policing department has changed this week as two women have taken up the driving seat.

Acting Supt Gill Wootton will take over as head of the department from Supt Mick Doyle, who is retiring after 30 years in the force. Acting Chief Insp Mary Chapman will take over as her deputy.

Acting Supt Wootton joined the Force in 1990, starting her career as a PC in Bletchley, then later going on to become area beat officer for Queensway, Bletchley, before gaining promotion to Sergeant.

She later transferred to Milton Keynes as an Inspector and then spent three years working on a project team at Headquarters.

Following a decision to further specialise she performed in a variety of roles as a Detective Inspector, working for Area Intelligence in Aylesbury, Volume Crime in Buckinghamshire, and on the Reactive Team in Amersham and South Buckinghamshire. On promotion to Chief Inspector, she was appointed as the Deputy Head of Roads Policing.

She said: “I am very pleased to have this opportunity to be the Head of Roads Policing. It is certainly going to be a challenging role, as the department is responsible for policing 196 miles of the strategic road network which includes the M4, M40, M25 and M1 – acknowledged to be among the busiest roads in Europe.

“It is a force-wide role which involves the managing the many different sections including the five roads policing regions, the intelligence, operations and proactive teams, the specialist departments, the fixed penalty unit and the motorcycle team.

"I am also responsible for the strategic development of the department and building relationships with other key partner agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service and the Highways Agency.”

Acting Chief Insp Chapman joined the Force in 1982, starting her career as a PC in Witney. She then moved to Oxford, where she was promoted to Sergeant. She then spent time as a trainer, working at Shotley and Sulhamstead.

Following that, she spent time working in the control rooms in Wantage and Reading. After spending time working in the West Berkshire Local Police Area, she got promoted to Inspector at Reading. From there she joined the Roads Policing department, where she was the Inspector for the Berkshire West Basic Command Unit.

She said: “I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that the rank will present. I thoroughly enjoy my present role and believe that this new role will enhance and develop these skills giving me a greater understanding of the department as a whole.”

They are two of 25 female officers on the Roads Policing department.

Acting Supt Wootton said: “Roads Policing is still a male dominated department; however there has been a steady increase in the number of female officers wishing to perform this role within Thames Valley Police in recent years.

"As a senior woman officer I have an obligation to be a good role model for other women. I would like to encourage other women to give roads policing a go. It is a fantastic department to work in and offers a huge variety of work to the officers and staff.”