CUMBRIA Police have defended their decision to add a livery design showing support to the LGBTQ+ community on one of their cars.

This has come after a tweet posted by the group We Are Fair Cop - which repeatedly speaks against LGBTQ+ inclusion policies in police forces which they say go against freedom of expression - shared an image erroneously associated with the constabulary.

We Are Fair Cop describes itself as "a group of gender critical lawyers, police officers, writers and professionals dedicated to upholding Articles 8-11 ECHR and removing politics from policing.”

These articles of law within the European Convention of Human Rights entrench ‘freedom of expression’.

The group criticised the vehicle livery, and said: “Despite being required to save millions, senior management has just given approval to a new rainbow car.”

Workington MP, Mark Jenkinson, who also describes himself as ‘gender critical’ – a term used to describe a wide range of views held in opposition to some contemporary progressive transgender rights and politics - stated on his Twitter profile in relation to the news: “If you need a rainbow car for people to approach you about a crime, you’re doing policing wrong.”

Defending their decision, a spokesperson from Cumbria Constabulary said: “The car pictured in the tweet is not a Cumbria Police vehicle.

“We know hate crimes are under reported in Cumbria, including those from the LGBT+ community, and want to encourage people to report crimes to us so we can investigate and provide support to those who need it.

“No one should be targeted for who they are.

“As a force we work hard to reach out to all of our diverse communities, including undertaking work on violence against women and girls and the National Race Action plan.

“This vehicle is a small part of the work we are doing to engage with and show support to the LGBT+ community – both internally and externally.

“Our car is not yet operational.

“The cost for livery of a police car is £657, for the LGBT+ branding it is an additional £247.

“We are proud that in our recent HMICFRS inspection it highlighted the good work we are doing and that we have an ethical and inclusive culture – and this is something we are keen to build on.  

“Our vision is to deliver an outstanding police service to keep Cumbria safe.

“To deliver this, we must treat everyone fairly, legitimately and improve the trust and confidence in us to all our communities – including those who are subjected to hate crime."

READ MORE: Firefighters recount 'near miss' after dodgy batteries cause fire and explosions