TWO-thirds of Cleveland Police's "stop and searches" in a year were unlawful, a report has found.

Cleveland and Northumbria Police - out of only five nationally - have been rated inadequate in a report into police legitimacy.

Cleveland Police had the highest number of unlawful uses of stop and search of any force in England and Wales, with 63 of the 99 assessed being found to not have reasonable grounds. Overall, it "required improvement", although its public engagement was rated as good.

Durham's unlawful stop and search rate was also high at 33 per cent.

Steve Watson, Deputy Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary, said the force was working on improvements to its stop and search procedures after a review.

Northumbria was told by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) that it required improvement in stop and search and several other areas, while in North Yorkshire all areas were found to be good.

In HMIC's Peel report into police legitimacy, it found that while Cleveland had an "ethical culture", and had good public engagement, there was "evidence of low morale and staff not feeling valued by the organisation".

Staff were "run ragged", "exhausted" and "hitting crisis point", it said.

It also raised concerns at the high percentage of stop and search forms that did not have reasonable grounds.

All of them had been assessed by a supervisor - an "unacceptable" finding, the report said.

Her Majesty's Inspector Mike Cunningham said Cleveland Police was improving and now complies with all but one of its stop and search guidelines.

Cleveland's Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Simon Nickless said: “This report reflects on the fact that we are a police force that is moving forward, is ethical and understands the importance of engaging with our communities, however we recognise there is more to do."

He said a sample of stop and search records shown to HMIC had shown a 65 per cent improvement since the inspection.

Mr Cunningham said Northumbria Police needed to improve its stop and search procedures as it was falling short of guidelines, and added: "At the time of our inspection there were a number of concerns about the force's efforts to instil a culture which promoted innovation and a willingness to change.

"This is something the new chief constable is aware of and addressing."

Across England and Wales, as many as one in seven "stop and searches" carried out in a year may have been unlawful. Some 15 per cent did not have reasonable grounds recorded, as required by law.

HMIC said the findings were "disappointing" and showed that police were failing to meet this "litmus test of legitimacy" - despite the percentage having shrunk from 27 per cent in 2013.