A FORMER police inspector who is now a leading councillor in Oldham has spoken of his enduring grief on the 20th anniversary of the death of Alison Armitage - the first woman officer in Greater Manchester to be killed in the line of duty.

The 29-year old died on March 5, 2001 just days after she was praised for foiling a bank raid and triggering the arrest of six suspects.

Pc Armitage was part of an under cover unit based in Chadderton and lived in Grotton.

Pc Armitage with a male colleague watching a stolen car parked in Byron Street, Chadderton.

They were waiting for suspected thieves to return to a Vauxhall Vectra, but eventually decided the car must have been dumped and called for a recovery truck.

The truck was only minutes away when a young man came back to the car and started to drive away.

Pc Artimage is understand to have gone to the back of the car, while her colleague went to the driver's side window.

She banged on the boot and the windscreen to instruct the driver to stop but she was run down and went under the wheels of the car as her colleague watched helplessly.

She later died from her injuries in the Royal Oldham Hospital.

At the time, deputy leader of Oldham's Liberal Democrat group councillor Chris Gloster was a newly promoted police inspector and attended the scene of her death.

He said: "People say time flies but I remember this day like yesterday.

"As well as a colleague, Alison Armitage was a friend. Alison was a brilliant police officer and a brilliant person, extremely likeable, loved and respected by her family, friends and colleagues alike.

"Her death has had a long lasting impact upon the officers and police staff who worked with her, and despite twenty years passing, this remains a raw subject for many that will never realistically be overcome, the world is a lesser place without Alison."