A police worker has warned criminals that wearing a face mask won’t be enough to disguise them.

Andy Pope, 43, is a ‘super recogniser’, meaning that he has an unusual ability to remember people’s faces.

He has spotted more than 200 wanted suspects – even though they have been wearing face coverings.

The Community Support Officer for West Midlands Police looks at CCTV footage and stills in police briefings, and links them with people he sees in the street.

Since he joined the force in 2005 he has nabbed more than 2,100 suspects this way.

But once coronavirus hit, he worried the use of face masks would slow him down.

In fact, he realised he can still recognise people by their eyes, eyebrows and hairlines alone.

The dad-of-one, from Redditch, Worcestershire, works his way through the ‘wanted’ images at the start of each shift and if he can’t identify suspects immediately he will spot them whilst out on patrol.

He says that when suspects are wearing a facemask, he just focuses his efforts around recognising their eyes and eyebrows.

Mr Pope said: ‘I was a bit worried about how much harder my job would be when the facemask laws came in.

‘When I look at faces to memorise often it’s the shape of someone’s mouth or nose that would stick in my mind.

‘Obviously you can’t really see that under a facemask, so I’ve had to rely on just the top part of their face and paying special attention to their eyes.

‘Luckily, it hasn’t slowed me down and I have still been able to recognise just as many wanted people as I ever did.

‘If anyone on the run from the law thinks a facemask will help them hide from, they are sorely mistaken.’

Mr Pope who works with the Safer Travel Partnership team, started counting how many people he recognises in 2012, with crimes including sexual assault, anti-social behaviour and even attempted murder.

He said: ‘It’s very strange, it can be frustrating to try and explain because it’s impossible really.

‘Sometimes it can be about a specific feature but usually it’s just a case of looking at the entire face.

‘Eyebrows tend to be helpful because people never really have the same eyebrows but it’s rarely a case of looking at just one thing.

‘Now with people wearing face coverings it does make things more difficult but I still manage.

‘People who are wanted for a crime tend to try and disguise themselves anyway, whether that’s with a hoody or sunglasses or whatever so it’s something I am used to.

‘I always thought it was normal. I just assumed it was something everyone in this line of work could do.

‘It was only when my inspector at the time took me to one side and told me he had never seen anything like it before that I realised it wasn’t. I was shocked.

‘I can only assume it’s some part of the brain and you are either born with it or you aren’t.

‘I have made mistakes in the past but they are few and far between.

‘I never really clock off. I have spotted people while off duty on my way home before. I don’t switch off until I am through the front door.

‘My wife does get annoyed with me sometimes, she says “you’re not at work now.’

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