AN Essex Police sergeant has spoken up about her role in the force and hopw she believes ethnic boundaries should not restrict people's ambitions.

"Embrace your own unique set of skills. Everyone is different and the police has a place for everyone."

Those are the words of Sgt Anokhi Chouhan, who had never interacted with the police before joining the force, but is passionate about protecting the public and representing her community.

She was speaking as part of BBC series of profiles on the emergency services frontline.

Sgt Chouban, 25, manages a team of 17 officers who respond to 999 calls in her local area.

She's been in policing for over two years, first joining the force through the Police Now graduate scheme, and has been in her current role as sergeant for four months.

Before joining the force, Anokhi didn't think it was a role for her. She'd never met or interacted with a police officer before and didn't know any personally, but she felt it was really important to have someone from her community on the force.

She says: "Being a British Asian woman in the police force does mean that sometimes you're the only one in the room, and that's something you have to deal with, but it is slowly changing and I actually see more and more British Asian people and people of colour joining the police, so that's lovely to see."

You can check out the BBC series via this link.