ALTHOUGH they're two separate vocations the twin passions of DJ and PC Katie Madden - to use here real name - seem to be accidentally intertwined.

For a start she started DJing six years ago at around the time she joined West Yorkshire Police and bought her first set of decks with her first pay packet from the force.

Then there's that endearing name, conceived in true Yorkshire style when colleagues at the station would ask questions starting with the words: "Katie love....." From there a new star was born.

"It's not been hard juggling the two jobs" she said. "And the force has been pretty cool about me doing DJing in my spare time so one hasn't really impacted on the other.

"I just DJ on a weekend when I'm not on the beat and if I do get a gig I might have to book some time off but in the main they seem to work around each other really well.

"So there isn't really any reason for me to stop doing one or the other, besides it's good to have something as stable as a career in the police because, unless you're someone hugely successful like Erick Morillo DJing might not last forever."

She's yet to scale the heights but so far the signs are good. Since pursuing her second calling professionally last autumn she hasn't looked back.

Katie said: "I've always been mad about music, and not just dance music, everything from The Police to Led Zeppelin. I play records all the time - I don't even watch TV because as soon as I get home from work I put some music on.

"And I used to be an avid collector of vinyl, so from that came me doing the DJing and buying a set of decks and starting to practice, and from just playing friends parties and the odd thing here and there I got more and more requests for proper gigs."

The 26-year-old has so far played in every Yorkshire city and on top of getting a monthly residency at Leeds club Space is now heading up the sound of new night Stereolyrical which begins this Friday at bar Fibre.

It's a return to the uplifting beats of old, which marries in perfectly with Katie Luv's specific musical preferences - jackin', tech and fidgit house.

"The whole electro thing is a bit boring now" she said. "I like it but it's been done to death over the last couple of years. Everyone loved it in the beginning but it feels more commercial now, plus it's everywhere.

"But it just doesn't have that happy, uplifting feel to it and I think people like that a large part of the Leeds club scene is made up of the likes of myself who've been going out here for much of the 90s or at least most of the Noughties.

"There's still a whole generation of Fibre/Speed Queen party people who love the sound of funky house and the atmosphere it creates which is, not better or worse, just very different to the dark, electro club vibe."

And it's on the back of mastering her niche that Katie has gained respect as a DJ in her own right not because of the novelty of her day job and certainly not because she's a woman.

She said: "There's still a bit of surprise when people see a woman behind the decks because, as is still the case in so many careers, it remains a very male- dominated vocation.

"And somehow some people still think you might not be up to the job, or at least they're curious to see how good a job you'll do, but I feel like I've proved myself now as a DJ in my own right.

"When they first see a woman come on the decks they all wait to see what you're going to do and then when the first few records go on and they get into it you can see the recognition in their faces and you know they like you."

But as Katie gets increasingly involved in clubland doesn't she worry about being associated with the indulgent party scene while remaining an upholder of law and order?

"Well, I see them as two separate things" she said. "When I'm not on duty I'm just like everyone else, even though sometimes other people are a bit shocked when they find out what I do - I just tell them not to worry because I'm just Katie.

"Everyone can let their hair down and drink and stuff , but I'm too busy behind the decks and besides I'm a bit of a lightweight I can't even drink anything with caffeine in it because it effects me so much. The last time I had more than a couple of Red Bulls I ended up in accident and emergency."

DJ Katie Luv will be playing at Stereolyrical this Friday at bar Fibre on Lower Briggate from 9pm. For more information visit www.myspace.com/djkatieluv