An Avon and Somerset police horse has been officially renamed after a popular North Somerset town.

Clevedon, a newly qualified member of the police's mounted section, was previously known as LJ.

A crowd gathered at the seafront on Thursday for the formal introductions of Clevedon, joined by his rider, mounted patrol officer Trudi Wilsher.

Clevedon was flanked by fellow stablemates Mike, Mendip and Laddy; as he was presented with his new name by head of operations, superintendent Mark Edgington, who saw Clevedon as the right horse for the job.

He said: “Clevedon has already cut the mustard at large demonstrations this year, such as Greta Thunberg’s visit to Bristol in February and The Black Lives Matters protest, again in Bristol in June.

"He’s already shown his worth, and it's a real pleasure to be here and give him his official title.”

It is traditional for the mounted section of the police to name its horses after places or people who are important and significant to the force area.

Clevedon is a Belgium warmblood, bred for show jumping, but proved too laid back for his intended career, however his relaxed attitude is seen as an asset for his current role.

As a fully-trained police horse, Clevedon will take on all duties, from difficult football matches to school visits.

Sergeant Ed Amor, said: “We’ve named him Clevedon as we recently moved our main base of operations here.

"We train our young police horses around the town, and I would just like to say thank you to the people of Clevedon for their patience, as they sometimes get held up behind our young police horses as they're training around the town.”

Police horses have played an important role in assisting officers during public order incidents in Avon and Somerset for the past 30 years, helping them contain and manage major incidents, in order to protect the public and prevent injuries.

The horses walk a daily beat within communities as visual reassurance of police presence.

Supt Edington added: “They bridge the gap between our oldest traditions in the police and demonstrating our ability to integrate animals into modern day policing with impact.”