A SALISBURY woman who invited police guarding cordons in the city to her house for meals has praised them for their actions in the aftermath of the nerve agent attack.

Elizabeth Swain, of Spire View, comes from a family of police. Her father was a City of London police officer, and her sister also married a police officer. She said: “I would like to thank our lovely policemen and women who travelled here from all over the country to help safeguard Salisbury.

“I have always felt connected to police officers and admired them, and one morning I was greeted so warmly by them that I made a habit of going down nearly every day. We had nearly three months to stop and pass the time of day and have a few laughs”.

Mrs Swain often provided officers with cold drinks and bacon sandwiches and added: “It was the first time I’d ever had that kind of communication with the police, and maybe it will never happen ever again.

“How often do we have this opportunity to meet a policeman for a chat? I really wanted to draw attention to that.”