The Metropolitan Police are signing up to the Gender Agenda, a national strategy for the recruitment, progression and retention of women.

They want to find practical ways to increase the number of women officers and encourage them to stay with the force.

Their plans will be unveiled at a conference attended by hundreds of police officers in Hammersmith, west London, on Thursday.

It is called Empowering Women in the Metropolitan Police.

Women don't want to be pigeonholed and limited to certain types of police activity, such as domestic disputes.

Ken Livingstone

The force's deputy assistant commissioner, Ian Blair will be signing the strategy along with Metropolitan Police Authority chairman Lord Harris and London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Mr Livingstone said: "The Metropolitan Police have come a long way in dealing with equalities issues in the last twenty years.

"But there is still an underlying and sometimes overt macho culture within the service that has not yet been recognised in the same way as racism and homophobia."

He said the force needed to look at why women officers were leaving and to ensure women had the same promotion opportunities as men.