A TRAILBLAZING academic has been honoured by her first university.

Prof Freda Briggs from Deighton was given an honorary degree by the University of Sheffield.

The 78-year-old is a world expert in child protection, advising police forces in New Zealand and the UK.

Prof Briggs has decades of experience working with vulnerable children, including a spell in the Metropolitan Police in the 1950s, when she was one of only a handful of female officers.

Her long career began at Deighton Primary School and Royds Hall Grammar School in the 1930s and 1940s.

Prof Briggs, who has lived in Australia for the last 30 years, remembers the area well.

She said: “Deighton was a very respectable area populated by artisans. Social life revolved around the churches where they had activities for children like the Girl Guides and Scouts.

“The highlight of the year was Whit Sunday when we would walk round the boundaries of the parish and then we’d play in the fields.”

Prof Briggs met her husband Kenneth when he was a 15-year-old choirboy at Christchurch Woodhouse.

The couple have one son and four grandchildren.

But – despite all her fond memories of Huddersfield – Prof Briggs is not impressed with what’s happened to the town since she left Yorkshire in the 1970s.

She said: “I’ve just been to Midland Street in Hillhouse which is totally squalid.

“ I’m amazed that it’s been allowed to deteriorate to that extent.

“The outer areas like Golcar and Crosland Moor have become more attractive but the inner areas appear to have been badly neglected.”

Prof Briggs added: “The university is amazing but it’s sad to see all the charity shops in town.”

After leaving school, Prof Briggs worked as a clerk at ICI in Huddersfield before joining the Metropolitan Police in the 1950s.

She said: “I was a specialist in child protection but sometimes I had to do other things like direct traffic at Clapham.

“I was the 1,016th female police officer in the history of the Met.”

In 1963 Prof Briggs started a degree in education and sociology at the University of Sheffield and went on to complete an MA and a postgraduate diploma there.

In 1976 she moved to Australia and helped devise new training courses for teachers who went on to work with newly-arrived immigrants in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Prof Briggs, who currently works at the teacher training college in Adelaide, is recognised as a pioneer in the study of child protection.

She said: “I recognised the importance that teachers have in child protection. It’s something I’ve been involved with since the 1970s.”

Prof Briggs added: “I was elated to be honoured by the University of Sheffield. I think I’ve achieved what I have through sheer hard work and being prepared to run through brick walls.”