Mounted police unit prepares for Trump's visit

PC James Metcalf said they were "very proud" to be involved

Thames Valley Police's (TVP) mounted section will patrol Windsor this weekend as part of the policing operation for US President Donald Trump's visit.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are hosting the president and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, between 17 and 19 September.

PC James Metcalf from TVP said they were "very proud" to be involved.

"It is a part of large, comprehensive policing operation that we're a small part of on our team here," he said.

He said they would start off by doing some "general patrols" in Windsor.

"[This] is something we do quite regularly anyway, we support things like the guard change and we've just recently done the state visit of the President of France," he said.

"And then we'll be leading up to the day itself - we'll be escorting the military procession and the state drive in Windsor."

He said policing on horseback gave them "a lot of advantages", both in their daily work and for large events.

"We obviously have a massive height advantage when we're riding on top of a horse so, we're very visible to members of the public and criminals and people like that, who will see the police out on patrol," he said.

"But also we get a massive field of vision from the top there, so we can see things going on behind fences, in deep crowds.

"So we're a very highly visible part of policework."

Sgt Heidi Cornick said there was a "comprehensive policing plan" in place

Metcalf revealed there is a plan in place for possible protests.

"The protests side of the policing operation is very well planned, and if we need to form part of that, we are prepared to," he said.

Sgt Heidi Cornick said the visit was "very exciting for everybody involved".

"As soon as we got the call to say the President of the United States would be coming for an official state visit, the planning meeting started in earnest," she said.

"It's a really comprehensive policing plan that goes around this operation... to make sure that this can go off safely and all the community can enjoy it".