A FORMER Rochdale police inspector and a leading community figure have been helping advise prison staff and police in Pakistan.

Retired council training officer Ghulam Rasul Shahzad and Inspector Nadeem Mir, now based at Salford, met the head of the Lahore Police Training Institute, Masood Khan, in Pakistan to discuss ways to improve training.

In Pakistan, the prison service is run by its own separate, dedicated police force.

Both Mr Masood and Mr Mir gave presentations about how their respective forces operate.

Mr Shahzad believes it is more important than ever to have a properly trained police force in Pakistan, especially in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

He said: "We agreed that there was a need to revive the Police Training Project in Pakistan.

"Terrorism in Pakistan is causing the loss of hundreds of precious lives, including Benazir Bhutto.

"The revival of the project would help the Pakistani police to investigate effectively using the modern technology and methods."

This was the second time he has met with officials in the country to discuss police training.

He was also part of an official delegation in 1992, which included former mayor Brian Ashworth and the-then Chief Superintendent of Rochdale John Houghton.