LANCASHIRE Police chief Pauline Clare yesterday admitted she did not know how safe her force's digital Airwave radio system was.

The system replaced analogue receivers traditionally used by officers and is set to be rolled out to the rest of the country.

Officers at this summer's Commonwealth Games were supposed to use them until the plan was scrapped.

Unions have expressed concern for officers' health and safety and speaking at a press conference to mark her retirement yesterday, Chief Constable Clare said no one could say how safe they were.

She said: "We have to make assessments on whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. We are pushing the Home Office to carry out testing."

That was one of many issues raised at yesterday's conference. It was markedly different than when she first faced the cameras in 1995 after being named as the country's first female chief constable.

Then one of her first questions, asked by a national journalist, was not about her plans for the force or ambitions. It was about her perfume and summed up the feeling of suspicion when Mrs Clare became the first woman to head a police force.

She said: "There were a few people who viewed it as a mistake to appoint a woman for what is seen as a man's job. I hope I proved them wrong."

Lancashire Woman of the Year in 1992, Mrs Clare received the North West Woman of Achievement Award in 1995. In her seven years in charge of Lancashire she has scooped more awards, including the Queen's Police Medal in 1996.

Mrs Clare has spent the past few months readying herself to leave the force she first entered as a PC in October 1966. She says it will be a wrench to leave, but is confident her successor Paul Stephenson will carry on where she left off.

However, Mrs Clare, set to coach individuals to become better managers, said it would be hard to sever all ties. She added: "I won't be able to switch off. I'll keep an eye on the website to see what s going on."