By Anika Bourley Parliamentary Correspondent

Last updated 09:15, Saturday, 17 May 2008

CUMBRIAN Police has been involved in more than 200 accidents in just 12 months, the News & Star can reveal.

Injured: PC Jon Sherlock tried to stop a stolen car

Figures released by the Home Office show there were 210 road traffic collisions in 2006/07 involving Cumbria Constabulary.

Accidents which only involved police vehicles stood at 128 with 82 involving other vehicles as well.

Of the total, 32 collisions happened while police were on an emergency call or in pursuit of a target, which resulted in three injuries. No one was killed or seriously injured.

A force spokesman pointed out that the figures included all force vehicles – including those used by civilian staff on their way to meetings – and would include, for example, people scraping cars in the car park.

Most accidents were minor, he added, and the only accident of note involved PC Jon Sherlock, who was badly injured when two teenagers drove at him as he deployed a stinger to stop a stolen car last October. On that occasion, the force car was parked at the roadside and was hit by the stolen Vauxhall Corsa.

Cumbria has seen a decrease in collisions compared with 2005/06 where there were 177 accidents involving just police and 93 which included other factors. The numbers of RTCs caused from emergency responses stayed at a similar level of 33 with five injuries caused.

Cumbrian Chief Inspector Mairi Stamper said: “Not all collisions involving police vehicles involve other vehicles and, indeed, many are very minor, damage-only accidents. Similarly, if somebody bumps into a parked police vehicle, this would also be included in the figures.

“We do take road safety and our responsibilities for police property extremely seriously, and every collision involving a police vehicle is subject to internal review. They are also subject to the same police enquiries as collisions involving non-police vehicles, and appropriate action will be taken if necessary.

“Anyone driving a police vehicle, in particular those using police vehicles to respond to emergencies, will receive rigorous training, and our driver training department timetables refresher courses to ensure that all relevant officers and staff maintain their skills.”

But Tory shadow police reform minister David Ruffey, who asked for the figures, called for action to revise driver training standards.

He said: “These statistics illustrate just how difficult and dangerous a job police officers do.

“There is an obvious need for a serious review of the matter, and action is required to revise training standards to improve the safety of both the public and the police.”

Nationally, the number of road traffic accidents only involving police cars has fallen by six per cent from 19,280 in 2005/6 to 18,208 last year, while the number of accidents involving police cars and non police cars has risen by two per cent from 10,476 to 10,646 in the space of a year.