Police officer reunites with stolen hat after 20 years 

By Adam Dutton

A police officer has been reunited with his lost hat after it was stolen from a squad car 23 years ago.

PC Paul Allen was left stunned after getting a call to say the missing hat he lost while detaining a suspect more than two decades ago had been found in a quarry.

It was discovered by a member of the public litter picking at Ibstock Quarry - 14 miles away from where he last saw it in Leicester city center.

The hat - bearing the old force badge, his collar number PC429 and Allen written on - has now taken pride of place in his office following a clean-up.

PC Allen admitted he was forced to 'get the cream cakes in' after returning to his station without his force hat back in 2002.

He said it was taken from the back seat of his police car by somebody who 'wanted a souvenir' during a busy Saturday night shift.

PC Allen said: “It meant cream cakes all round for my colleagues but also a report to the Inspector to try and explain why I suddenly needed a new hat.

“Fast forward to last week and I was contacted by staff at the quarry looking for a PC 429.

"It was while collecting rubbish from the quarry that they had found a hat with PC 429 written on it – my hat.

“We’ve now been reunited and while I probably won’t be wearing it anymore, it does have pride of place on my shelves.

“I can only wonder where it’s been for the last 20-odd years, but it’s not in terrible condition and even has the old force badge still in place.

He said the hat was still in "really good condition" and added: "It really is a prized possession".

Supt Allen told the BBC: "I was out on patrol one Saturday night all those years ago.

"Me and a colleague were sent to an incident in the city center and we ended up sitting a young lad in the back of the car.

"We got back to the station at about three o'clock in the morning and realized the hat was gone. It seemed someone wanted to have a souvenir of their night.

"It is special, when I joined we were moving to all new equipment so it's nice to have something from that time back.

"We might hand it over to our archivist because this story is probably worth telling again when I retire but for now it is sitting on the shelves in my office."