POLICE in North Yorkshire have clarified queries over their fitness test results.

A national report by The College of Policing revealed this week that 98.4 per cent of fitness tests taken by North Yorkshire Police officers had been passed successfully.

However, the organisation queried statistics provided by the force, in which it claimed 2,182 officers had taken the test - while North Yorkshire Police currently only has 1,343 officers on its books.

A police spokeswoman said the figures referred to the number of fitness tests administered over two training years, and the proportion of passes and fails, and not the number of officers tested.

She said: “In North Yorkshire, and potentially other forces, the period of the report spans two ‘training years’, which may mean that some officers have taken the annual test twice during the period of the report.

"That is why the number of tests exceeds the number of officers employed. If presented ‘per officer tested’, North Yorkshire Police’s pass rate for the period of the report would be 99.4 per cent, not 98.4 per cent.”

Acting Deputy Chief Constable Paul Kennedy said: “We know we have some exceptional athletes amongst our officers, but this figure shows that there is a high standard of fitness across the board, and that officers achieve the required level of fitness to do the job."