NORTH Yorkshire Police is calling for residents to support a campaign to fund a new memorial to remember officers and staff killed in the line of duty.

Along with other police services across the country, North Yorkshire Police has pledged to support the UK Police Memorial project to create a monument at the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield in Staffordshire, home to more than 330 memorials.

The memorial is planned for completion in 2019, and its design will incorporate the names of more than 1,800 police officers and staff who died from injuries they received in duty since the service began.

Names of fallen colleagues from North Yorkshire will be amongst them.

Chief Constable Dave Jones of North Yorkshire Police, said: “It takes a special sort of person to put themselves in harm’s way to protect others, but that is what members of the police family do every day.

“Tragically, some lose their lives in the line of duty, and this memorial will honour their courage, dedication and sacrifice.

“There is a police memorial in London, but this new structure at the National Memorial Arboretum will be a permanent place of remembrance that anyone can visit year round.”

The memorial will cost £4m to build.