Speaking at the Police Federation annual conference in Birmingham she was asked: "Do you understand what spit guards are, why we need them and do you support them?"

Ms Rudd quickly replied: "Yes, yes and yes" to a loud round of applause from officers in the conference hall.

Later in the day she visited Conservative Wolverhampton South West candidate Paul Uppal in Whitmore Reans.

Staffordshire Police is one of only a handful of forces in the country to issue the hoods to all officers.

The mesh fabric hoods are placed over the heads of suspects to prevent spitting or biting.

They can only be used once and are usually used in custody suites or when moving people in custody from one location to another.

Critics say they are distressing and humiliating, can cause panic in the detained person, and make it harder to notice if a prisoner is having difficulty breathing.

During the Police Federation conference she took questions from officers about police cuts, officer numbers reducing by 20,000, and working conditions.

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She said: "I know people don't want to be drawn into issues involving the wider economy but it's not good if we're running a weak economy.

"We had to pay down the defect and make some cuts there. Crime fell despite the fact the number of police officers fell. That's due to great leadership among police groups and investment made around policing.

"We can stand on the record of working closely with the police and help you work towards cutting crime and protecting the police budget.

"In the last year there has been a rise in some elements of violent crime, part of that is down to more reporting because people have more confidence in the police.

"I speak to constables and commissioners and a lot of the issues are gang related.

"Around 25 per cent of knife crime is gang related so more we can do there why young people feel the need to carry knives."