A POLICE officer died and another was seriously injured in hospital last night after they were shot while on duty.

The traffic officers were gunned down after they stopped a BMW car in Leeds, West Yorkshire Police said.

Both policemen were taken to a hospital in the city with serious injuries, but one, in his 30s, died later.

After the shootings, the gunman stopped two people in a passing car and stole their vehicle, leaving them standing on the pavement.

Police cordoned off the scene in Dib Lane, in the Roundhay area of the city, while they carried out their investigation.

Two armed officers stood on guard at the end of the road, where dozens of police and police vehicles prevented cars from accessing the scene.

One woman, who has lived in the area for two years, said the shootings were unusual.

She said: "It's an all-right area, it's very quiet, nothing ever really happens.

"Gangs of boys hang around on the corners at night, but they don't really bother you. Something like this is a bit too close to home."

Another resident said there had been a shooting nearby two years ago.

She said: "Someone was shot in Fearnville a couple of miles away as they were driving a car. That was drugs related."

Police later released details of the car which was stolen at the scene of the shooting, which happened at 4pm.

A police spokesman said they were trying to trace the green Rover 6 series car with the registration number L410 PMB.

More than 50 officers - including several from the North-East and North Yorkshire - have been killed since 1980 in the battle against increasing violence on Britain's streets.

Between 1980 and 1989, 30 officers were killed in the line of duty; between 1990 and 1999 a further 18 perished; and from 2000 to date eight officers have lost their lives.

Special Branch officer Detective Constable Stephen Oake was stabbed to death during a raid in Manchester last January.

In March 2001, PC Alison Armitage, from Manchester, became the fifth woman constable to be killed in the line of duty when a car thief in Oldham drove over her repeatedly as he tried to escape.

Her killer, a 19-year-old from Manchester, was jailed for eight years.

In March 1993, Sergeant Bill Forth, 34, was stabbed to death in Gateshead after being set upon while answering a routine call to deal with youths who had allegedly smashed a window.

In June 1992, Special Constable Glen Goodman, 37, was killed and his colleague, PC Alexander Kelly, 32, seriously wounded when they were shot on the A64 near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, after they questioned the occupants of a car, who turned out to be IRA terrorists. In March 1991, PC Duncan Clift, 27, was killed when he was run over as he tried to prevent the theft of a high performance car while on holiday in Hexham, Northumberland.

Among the most infamous police murders was that of Sunderland-born PC Keith Blakelock, who was hacked to death during the Broadwater Farm riots, in north London, in 1985.

In 1982, gunman Barry Prudhom shot dead PCs David Haig and David Winter during a violent rampage in Ryedale, North Yorkshire.

The same year, Detective Constable James Porter was shot dead after an armed robbery in Bishop Auckland, County Durham