NORTHUMBRIA Police saw the highest rise in complaints of any force in the country, official figures have revealed.

A total of 794 complaints were made against Northumbria Police, which had 5,871 employees in 2013/2014, representing a 98 per cent rise in 2013/14, compared to an increase of 15 per cent for England and Wales, statistics issued by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) show.

The total number of complaints against Durham Constabulary rose 26 per cent to 303, while over the same period complaints against North Yorkshire Police rose 15 per cent to 544.

Cleveland Police saw the number of complaints it received drop by six per cent to 454 last year.

A spokesman for the IPCC said: "Some of the increase in 2013/14 is down to the definition of a complaint being broadened beyond an officer’s conduct to include direction and control matters to do with operational policing."

A complainant has the right to appeal about the way in which a police force has handled their complaint.

Just one in 20 of appeals from the public against Durham Constabulary were upheld by the force IPCC, compared with a 46 per cent of those considered by the IPCC.

The overall uphold rate by police forces in England and Wales is 20 per cent, compared with 46 per cent by the IPCC.