PM in safe hands

Thanks to Preston PC Fred Orford, Blackpool Winter Gardens should be safe as houses for the annual gathering of the party's members and supporters.

The daredevil bobby has been abseiling up and down the resort's famous building to check all the nooks and crannies for bombs.

And daring Fred on his brave mission to protect the PM and his staff has even been applauded by the area's MPs.

PC Orford, 47, who lives near the police headquarters in Hutton, said: "Tony Blair couldn't ask for a safer venue. The whole place is searched totally, and we sign off afterwards and say right, it's clear."

Security work is a family affair for Fred. He is married to Marian, who runs the occupational health department at the police headquarters, and their son Matthew, 20, also works for the police in administration. He and his family are all black belt experts in karate.

Fearless Fred learnt to abseil while working for the fire service in London. After leaving the capital he moved to Hutton and joined the police force. Now the hard-working copper can be seen pedalling around Tanterton as the area's community beat officer, and teaching self-defence at the force's headquarters.

Over the years Fred has had plenty of practice, and has checked out the security for a host of local monuments including Horrockses Mill and Preston North End's Deepdale ground in time for two royal visits.

He said: "When Horrockses had a visit from Prince Charles, it had to be searched because people could drop something in the big old lift shafts.

"The only way to do it was climbing down from the top, then climbing the ropes back up again.

"And PNE had a royal visit, and we searched the top of the stands. We also use the ground as a training venue."

As one of just two qualified search instructors, Fred is responsible for checking any high areas in buildings where bombs and explosives could be hidden.

He said: "We search all the roof voids. Anything that's at a height basically. The Winter Gardens have grown over the years, and there's plenty of voids up there.

"We can rope off and we get ourselves secured totally so we know that if anything falls we'll be safe.

"I've never found anything like bombs. But we do drug searches and other stuff at murder scenes or at rape scenes."

Preston MP Mark Hendrick will be joining the delegates in Blackpool.

He said: "The threat of terrorism still looms and the work carried out by our police force is extremely important.

"Their work is even more critical when Government ministers and politicians are assembled at the same time and the same place"

And David Borrow, MP for South Ribble, added: "It's reassuring to know that one of our local police officers will be at the Winter Gardens checking security.

"It will be very different from his usual beat in the community, however he will have a birds-eye view of the conference with possibly the best seat in the house."