A campaign has been launched to recruit more police officers in north Wales.

The drive is being spearheaded by chief superintendent Sian Beck who is keen to get the message out that being a police officer is a great career with “amazing job satisfaction”.

The window for applications is open from 18 to 29 August, and details can be found at www.northwales.police.uk

Chief superintendent Beck said: “It’s a fantastic job with a whole range of career options.

“We are a 24/7 service and there are times when you have to put the hours in but we are very much welfare-focused and supportive of a good work-life balance for staff which is helpful in terms of recruitment and retaining officers.

“I know from my own experience that I benefited greatly from a lot of support from the force when I was doing a master’s degree which was incredibly important.

“Diversity and inclusion has come on massively especially with the support of our chief constable who’s the national lead for diversity, equality and inclusion.

“Policing has moved into the 21st century in north Wales in terms of how we recruit and how we understand the challenges that people face from under-represented communities or different genders.

“We’re always striving to do things better but policing is a more inclusive family these days.”

Becoming a police officer was not part of Sian’s original plan.

Growing up she was also mad about horses and went to the University of the West of England in Bristol to do a degree in equine science, but she had a “eureka moment” when a friend showed her a policing recruitment brochure.

She said: “I’d never thought of being a police officer until I saw the brochure, did some more research about the role and realised that was what I wanted to do.

“I’m a people person so I love working in teams and I am quite practical and outdoorsy so the thought of doing a job helping people and the unpredictability of every day being totally different really appealed to me.

“The other attraction was that you have the security of one career but a load of different opportunities within the job.

“I joined in March 2000 and knew immediately that I had made the right decision.