Home secretary Sajid Javid today backed the roll out of controversial spit guards to frontline officers on the streets of London.

Sajid Javed said he would raise the issue with Met commissioner Cressida Dick saying officers need the equipment for their own protection.

The Met has been trialling the use of spit guards across London - but their use has been limited to custody suites and they are not supplied to frontline officers.

The use of the mesh fabric hoods has been condemned as “cruel and degrading by the campaign group Liberty and the shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.

Any decision to roll them out out in the streets Is likely to be highly controversial.

Today speaking at the Police Federation annual conference in Birmingham Mr Javid said: “I do not understand why any chief constable should put public perception before protecting police officers. I think that is completely ridiculous.”

He also pledged he would speak to the Met chief about extending the trial to equip all front line officers either the hood.

So far around 31 out of 43 forces have spit hoods and several, including the British Transport Police which operates in London, have also issued the kit to front line officers.

Today Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met police federation, welcomed the home secretary’s comments.

He said:”This is what we have been calling for years. The Met trialled them in custody suites with a view to all officers getting them but then they changed their mind.

“We are in the bizarre situation where BTP officers can use them on the streets of London but Met officers cannot.”

He added:”We only ever use them when someone spits at an officer. When you are spat at it is abhorrent, and spitters do not stop, while their saliva can carry disease.”

He said one Met officer contracted Hepatitis after being spat at on duty.