THE POLICE Federation in North Yorkshire has described the results of its own survey which revealed concerns about bullying and overworked officers as "disturbing".

A health and well being survey by the federation, which has about 1,500 members, revealed that 44.6 per cent of respondents had been subject to bullying at work, of which 19.1 per cent said this was “always, often or sometimes”.

More than 56 per cent said they had been subject to personal harassment in the form of unkind words or behaviour.

The survey also revealed the pressures those working for the force were under.

Almost half of all those who replied to the survey – 49.6 per cent – said they sometimes neglected tasks because they had too much work to do.

Meanwhile, 39 per cent said they were sometimes unable to take sufficient breaks.

Federation members were asked if they had chosen to use a rest day or holiday instead of reporting sick because of the way the force managed attendance.

Sixty five per cent said they had, while in reply to another question 79.1 per cent said they would consider doing so.

Thirty three per cent of those who replied also said their relationships with colleagues were strained and almost 49 per cent had sometimes experienced friction or anger between colleagues.

Mark Botham, the chairman of North Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “At a time when we have seen a reduction of over 300 officers because of cuts to the police budgets these figures make disturbing reading.

“We pledge our commitment to work with the Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan and our new Chief Constable Dave Jones to address the issues in them on behalf of our members so we have a healthy, motivated and effective police force.”

Assistant Chief Constable Iain Spittal, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “It is disappointing that the police federation has chosen to publicise the results of their survey before engaging with chief officers on these important issues, especially as we have a track record of working closely with them to develop improved working arrangements for all our staff and officers.

“The results present a number of important messages from around a third of our officers.

“We value the opportunity to work with police federation colleagues and are committed to ensuring that all our officers and staff feel supported and able to deliver the best possible service to the communities we all serve.”