WOMEN make up a higher proportion of Thame Valley Police's force than ever before and a former police officer said the 'final barriers' had been broken down.

At the end of last year 33 per cent of the force - 1,403 - were female employees, the highest ever proportion and up from 29 per cent in 2010.

There were also more woman in the rank of Chief Inspector and Superintendent and despite cuts to the police, budget fewer women than men left the force.

Ex-Oxford police officer Chris Clement-Green, who worked for TVP for 16 years, said finally there was 'equal opportunity'.

She said: "It's a much more inclusive force than when I started out, there are now many women in the top roles of assistant chief constable and chief constable.

"Earlier this year the last barrier, the top job at the Met, was broken by Cressida Dick and it shows that there is equal opportunity.

"It's inspiring for others who want to get into policing."

Ms Dick grew up in Oxford, educated at the Dragon School and Oxford High School before becoming a superintendent in the city.

Mrs Clement-Green said she had felled 'the last male bastion' in the police and hoped it would lead to more women taking up top roles.

The 57-year-old, whose book about her time as a police officer will be published later this year, said sexism was a major obstacle for women in the 1980s.

After starting out in Oxford in 1984 she was asked in five consecutive promotion interviews when she intended to start a family.

She said: "During basic training I’d been warned that female officers were their own worst enemy when it came to a career in the police; they kept leaving to have babies so no one took them seriously for specialisation or promotion.

She added that there was understood to be a 'four-year rule' whereby women, frustrated at the lack of opportunity, would leave the force after four years.

But by the time she retired in 2000 - before becoming a civilian investigator in serious and organised crime units - she said things had improved.

Two of Thames Valley Police's top positions are currently held by women - with Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Ross in charge of local policing and Assistant Chief Constable Laura Nicholson working in counter terrorism and serious organised crime units in the South East.

Four of the city's six neighbourhood policing teams have female representation of the rank PC or higher.