The former police constable, who lives in the town and has raised his family there, has been a familiar face on the beat since 1989.

He became a neighbourhood officer in Tring when 31 years old and has stayed ever since apart from a two year stint with the intervention team based in Berkhamsted. However, he was still patrolling Tring but in a police car rather than on foot.

He said: "I live in Tring so I know the area very well. I have got to know a lot of the people in Tring and it helped in my work.

"If you stay in one town for a while you get to know what is happening in the area - where the connections area, if there are confrontations bubbling under the surface."

Mr Porter's two daughters, now 20 and 33 years old, went to school in Tring and his wife worked in the town, which he says also came in handy to keep up with what was going on.

Prior to coming to Tring Mr Porter worked in Watford on the Meriden beat for five years and then in North Watford. He has spent his entire policing career of 30 years within the local area.

The 50 year old said: "It's strange. You do 30 years in one place and it is quite a pull to step away from it.

"I still live in Tring so I have still got connections there but it is not quite the same.

"One of my daughters calls Tring 'a bubble'. It is not like any of the big towns. Even Berkhamsted is different."

During his career Mr Porter was awarded a Chief Constable's Commendation in 2006 for his work in connection with Operation Sphinx - an investigation into a murder in Hoddesdon, Herts. He said: "My job involved being part of a team which looked through 300 CCTV tapes for evidence."

He is now working as a civilian at Herts Constabulary's head quarters in Welywn Garden City for the Police National Computer department.