Policing artefacts to go on show

Artefacts are normally kept inside a police warehouse

Cold War defence plans and murder weapons are among policing artefacts to go on show across the South West.

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is exhibiting its archives for the first time after receiving a £40,900 Heritage Lottery grant.

Early pieces include lead piping used in a murder, 1800s police swords, suffragette records and fascism memos.

The exhibition will tour community centres and schools across the counties starting in June.

The items are currently stored in a warehouse and have only been accessible by police or through appointment.

Police uniforms, handcuffs and truncheons from the past century will be on display alongside documentation showing the counties' Cold War early defence mechanism plans, records of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst's demonstration in Exeter and memos about fascist rallies in the region.

Police weapons and uniforms dating back to the 1800s are also on show

Force Museum documentation assistant, Pauline Goodlad said: "It's the history of Devon and Cornwall.

"Now we can take these items out to people and help them to think about things that have gone on."

A mobile museum will travel through Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The grant will also enable the Force Museum to set up an interactive website and digitise part of the collection for online access.