Eastleigh beat bobby Dave Beattie became Edmonton City Police department's newest recruit when he reported for duty earlier this week.

For Dave - who has pounded the Eastleigh town centre beat for the last 18 months - and his wife Allison have relocated to the north- west city in the state of Alberta.

Before they went the former Eastleigh policeman said he was looking forward to the challenges ahead of him.

Born in Chichester, Dave joined Hampshire Constabulary nine years ago after a career in the RAF as a pilot flying Hawks. He spent five years at Eastleigh before deciding to swap his English police uniform for a Canadian one.

Although an experienced police officer in this country, Dave will have to start all over again in Canada by undertaking a two-year training programme.

He said: "Community policing is a relatively new innovation in Canada and I will be taking a lot of knowledge with me from the experiences I have gained here as a community beat officer in Eastleigh - which will hopefully be of interest and benefit to my new colleagues. Not only will I be taking something new to them, I know that I will also learn a great deal from the way in which they operate and, with a population of around one million, it will undoubtedly be a lot busier when compared with East-leigh."

Another difference that Dave will have to get used to is being armed. But although he never carried a weapon as a policeman in England, he did have weapons training during his time with the RAF.

He said: "I am not daunted by the prospect and if there is a need to use it, then clearly I will do. But I do believe that one of the biggest weapons a police officer has is his ability to talk and negotiate."

Before he left the Eastleigh station, colleagues gathered to wish Dave farewell and good luck.

PC Kevin Gillespie will be taking up the reins from Dave on Eastleigh's town centre beat after spending two weeks patrolling alongside him getting to know the area and the people he will be looking after.