(Photograph) - Pam Kaur, 40, is determined to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition to become a police officer, and she’s not prepared to let her diminutive stature get in the way, writes Martin Whittaker. She said: “When I was at school there was a height restriction. I’m 5ft 2in and that counted me out.” The height rule has long since changed and Pam, a supermarket worker from east London, is putting herself through the daunting process to join the Metropolitan Police. She is being guided through it by a police access course run by Tower Hamlets College. The course is also being run by the College of North West London, Havering College, West Thames College and Morley College. Of the 100 who enrolled on the 12-week courses, 18 are now police officers.

Photograph: Neil Turner