LANCASHIRE'S top cop Pauline Clare, who sensationally backed a bid to legalise prostitution this week, is celebrating her first year in office.

As the country's first and only female Chief Constable she has spent the time since her appointment under intense scrutiny by the media.

Despite this attention, Mrs Clare, 48, proved she was not afraid to speak her mind when I asked her on Monday whether she supported West Yorkshire's Chief Constable Keith Hellawell views on legalising brothels.

She hit the national headlines with her reply: "I don't think there was anything he said I would disagree with. I'm happy to support him."

And when I probed her on her opinion of Judge Alasdair McCallum -who recently halted a trail of a policeman accused of sexual harassment- she said: "Behaviour which is seen as sexist in the police force is unacceptable and I believe further action should be taken.

"I have been subjected to many instances of sexual discrimination, but I'm not sure we labelled them as sexual discrimination in the past."

She then called on women in the force to have the confidence to tackle sexism.

But she warned policewomen not to expect a helping hand from her, stressing: "I don't agree with positive discrimination."

I went on to ask if she could reassure people in Lancashire, especially those in Blackpool, that they would be safe from terrorist attacks now the party conference season is approaching.

She answered: "I couldn't give anyone 100 per cent reassurance. Lancashire Constabulary is well aware of what terrorist levels will be at that time and we will take whatever action is necessary."

She denied increased security in Blackpool would be a drain on other centres in Lancashire.

Mrs Clare may be one of a new breed but, this week, she could point to no significant changes in the way the force is run since she took over the top job last year.

She insisted, however: "While wholesale change hasn't taken place, we are going to embark on it.

"What has come from the top is a sense of direction. What we are trying to achieve is a planned change to our programme that will take five years to achieve."

That she was appointed at all, says Mrs Clare, is symbolic of change within the force.

Her immediate thoughts for the future were to keep to business as usual, with no plans to celebrate her anniversary yesterday (Wednesday, July 31).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.