FOR nearly 30 years he has been the public face of policing in a Hampshire town and its neighbouring villages.

The familiar sight of beat bobby PC Peter Hall has reassured the public in an era that has seen officers increasingly confined to their cars.

Now PC Hall is looking forward to mounting his last patrol and enjoying a well-earned retirement.

After 27 years of pounding the streets of Lymington and the surrounding area, he plans to unwind by spending several weeks soaking up the sun in Australia with his partner Catherine.

"I've loved every minute of being a community beat officer," said 52-year-old PC Hall.

"I never wanted promotion. I just wanted to be a uniformed beat man walking the streets, meeting the public and being approachable at all times.

"Everyday someone stops me as I walk through the town and tells me how nice it is to see a policeman."

Sergeant Paul Howlett, of Lymington police station, said: "PC Hall has spent the vast majority of his career serving the communities of Lymington and has become the face of policing in the town.

"His old-fashioned style of walking and talking with the people he serves has won him many friends."

Married with two children, PC Hall began his career at Cowes on the Isle of Wight before transferring to Portsmouth. In 1979 he became a beat bobby in the New Forest parish of East Boldre, where he worked as a "Heartbeat-style" officer.

He added: "I was very much a 24-hour PC in the early days. I would get a phone call and deal with an incident myself.

PC Hall later worked in the Woodside and Pennington area but has spent the past seven years as a beat bobby in Lymington town centre.

During his career he has occasionally been required to leave his beloved New Forest to assist police colleagues in other parts of the country.

He helped police the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and the miners' strike a few years later.