NORTH Yorkshire police officers killed in the line of duty were among those remembered at a ceremony attended by Prince Charles.

Relatives, colleagues and senior police officers were among those who travelled to Belfast to mark National Police Memorial Day (NPMD) .

It is held in honour of British police officers who have died on duty and is attended by families from across Britain every year. The NPMD patron is Prince Charles who also travelled to Waterfront Hall in Belfast for the occasion.

Relatives who attended the service included those of PC Andrew Bramma, the father of two young children who was killed when the van he was driving hit a tree just outside West Tanfield, near Ripon in January, 2013. He had been responding to an emergency call when the accident happened.

The family of PC Richard Ellerker also travelled to Northern Ireland for the event.

PC Ellerker died on Boxing Day in 1993, aged 42 after he was injured when arresting a drunk and violent man. A short while later he collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Other relatives attending included those of PC David Haigh, shot by a fugitive as he was questioning him in a car at Norwood Edge Plantation near Harrogate in 1982 and PC Keith Summerbell, who died the same year while undergoing police motorcycle training.

North Yorkshire Chief Constable Dave Jones and Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan both travelled to attend the service.

During the service a prayer was read by Brian Goodman, the father of special constable Glenn Goodman, who was murdered by an IRA gunman in 1992 while stopping a car to make a routine check on the A64 near Tadcaster in North Yorkshire.

Prince Charles also attended as patron of National Police Memorial Day.

Mike Stubbs, chairman of the North Yorkshire’s Police Federation said every year the families of officers who have lost their lives are invited to attend the service. Their travel and accommodation costs are met from the force’s welfare fund - mainly supported by donations from serving officers - as a way of recognising the "sacrifice they had made serving the communities of North Yorkshire".

He added: “The tragic circumstances in which these officers lost their lives have faded from public consciousness. But their families continue to live with the consequences of their loss. It is one of the strengths of the police family that we continue to support those left behind.”