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All Muslim women police officers will be allowed to wear traditional headscarves as part of an initiative in London to boost recruitment from black and Asian communities.
The Metropolitan Police is the first police force in the UK to permit the hijab. It is designing a black and white chequered headscarf to be worn by Muslim women officers.
Mohamood Mahroof, of the Association of Muslim Police, said, "The Association welcomes the Met's decision to introduce the hijab as an item of uniform for Muslim officers. This will now make Muslim women who do wear a hijab eligible to join the Met.
"We hope many current and future officers will benefit from the change."
Sikh officers are already allowed to wear turbans and the Met is considering whether to allow potential recruits from the Rastafarian community to have dreadlocks. The Home Office has instructed the Met to increase its number of ethnic minority officers from 4.1 per cent to 25 per cent by 2009.
