AS THE abusive prisoner was forced to the cell floor by burly officers the Princess Royal smiled triumphantly, before heading to the briefing room for her update on Chester's crime scene.

Contrary to appearances, the dramatic scene was a mock-up designed to give the princess a taste of everyday life at the new Chester and Ellesmere Port division police headquarters, which she officially declared open on Monday.

This included a complex restraining manoeuvre performed in a padded gym by trained officers, while PC Chris Jones drew on years of beat experience to convincingly play the role of rowdy prisoner. But during a tour of the building, Princess Anne revealed an extensive knowledge of real police work.

'She was very well informed, very interested in the processes that went on and how IT has changed the way we record crime,' said Insp Simon Price of Chester CID after demonstrating the force's crime management unit to the royal visitor.

Elsewhere, the princess asked forensic teams in the crime scene investigations room how advances in DNA had changed the way they worked. But she seemed pleased that police lifting fingerprints from a crime scene still use the same tools as their predecessors - aluminium powder, a brush and some sticky tape, as demonstrated by Richard Davies.

Local agencies who aid the police with their work were not missed out of the Royal visit, with representatives from the Police Independent Advisory Group, Homewatch, Pathfinder and Project Rural Matters joining the Blacon Project to greet the princess and discuss their work. Finally, the princess unveiled a plaque declaring the building officially open and was handed a bouquet of flowers by intelligence officer Senolita Swan.