Working undercover may not be his forte, but at 7ft 2in Britain's tallest policeman brings a new meaning to the long arm of the law.

PC Anthony Wallyn, of Coulsdon, patrols London's streets in size 17 boots.

Nicknamed the BFG and ironically Tiny, the PC is often asked 'if it's it snowing up there.'

The towering cop, who has a reach of almost a metre, weighs 23-stone, has an inside leg measurement of 37 inches and a 56 inch chest.

The 25-year-old is so big his uniform is specially made for him and when he first joined the force two-and-half years ago, he had to wear his own clothes while his uniform was specially made.

He said: "It was quite funny when I first joined the force because there wasn't a uniform big enough so I had to spend 15 weeks in civvy clothes which the rest of the my colleagues thought was very amusing."

PC Wallyn lives with his fiancée Danni, 26, and son Joshua, who at two years old is already as tall as a four-year-old.

The rugby-playing officer has become something of a celebrity with tourists queuing up to have their picture taken with him on the beat.

He said: "To be honest 99 percent of the reaction I get is positive.

"My old beat was near Trafalgar Square so I did get a lot of attention and when I'm near the Houses of Parliament, everyone wants to take a picture of me near Big Ben.

"In the job it is sometimes handy being so tall because I can see over the crowds in big public order situations and watch out for any trouble."

The Westminster PC who plays second row rugby for police team MP Hayes, hopes to train up to join the Met's elite TSG unit.

He said: "Lad's in the rugby team also call me 'The Freak', but it's all good fun."

A spokesperson for the Police Federation, which represents 124,000 officers, said they were not aware of any police officer taller than PC Wallyn.