Officers arrested a boisterous football spectator escorting him out of the FA Cup fifth round match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Highbury on February 15, 1964. Mediadrumimages / TopFoto

By Kate Harrold

 

NEWLY colourised images show the daily skirmishes of the UK’s police forces FIFTY years ago.

In one image, police apprehended Dartmoor Prison escapee Trevor Davies in Tavistock on July 20, 1963, transferring him back to the prison from the local police precinct.

In another, officers arrested a boisterous football spectator – escorting him out of the FA Cup fifth round match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Highbury on February 15, 1964.

Police Constable Dyble takes enquires from a member of the public at the one man police station in New Addington, Surrey, on March 26, 1962. Mediadrumimages / TopFoto

Others showed police requesting details from a group of teddy boys in the 1950s and holding back a crowd of Beatles super-fans outside of Buckingham Palace, London, on October 26, 1965.

The incredible images have been released by the TopFoto archives and after being painstakingly colourised, offer a new glimpse into what mid-20th century life on the beat might have been like.

In recent weeks, British audiences have been enraptured by the goings-on of the fictional AC-12 unit in BBC drama Line of Duty. Over 12,000,000 Brits tuned into series six making it one the corporation’s most successful dramas to date.

Police finger-print experts examine a murder car after 37 year old Michael Gregsten was shot dead and 20 year old Valerie Storie was seriously wounded in an attack in Ilford, Essex, in August 1961.
Mediadrumimages / TopFoto

The high-octane drama experienced by DS Arnott and DC Fleming may not quite reflect the average day of a mid-20th century copper, but these newly released images prove that life on the beat is far from a walk in the park.