THE IRA campaign in the 1970s, the rise of the National Front, inner-city riots, and the Miners Strike are all in a new book released by a Bromsgrove author.

Mike Layton is a retired police officer with forty-two years service, over thirty years of which were spent in the West Midlands Police.

He has written/co-written a number of books over the past six years, many of which are police-related.

During that period he worked closely with another former police colleague Stephen Burrows, who also spent many years serving in the West Midlands.

Mike said: "We have just released our latest book titled 'Reporting For Duty' which details the history of the West Midlands Police from its inception in 1974 to 1999.

"It is a rich period of social history and includes detail on the IRA campaign in the 1970s, the rise of the National Front, inner-city riots, the Miners Strike and such cases as the Stephanie Slater kidnap case.

"It contains two hundred images and ninety accounts from retired police officers."

He added: "For each copy of the book sold we will be making a donation to the new UK Police Memorial fund. This is in recognition of the fact that during this twenty-five year period some thirty officers lost their lives on duty or whilst making their way to work. In two cases officers were murdered.

The book is available via amazon.co.uk/dp/1916168000.