THREE people have died following contact with North Yorkshire Police during the last year, new figures have shown.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), released its annual review of deaths following police custody yesterday, which showed two people had died following contact with police, while a third had apparently committed suicide after being in police custody.

In 2014/15, two people had apparently committed suicide following a spell in custody.

The IPCC said more than half of those who apparently committed suicide after custody “had known mental health concerns” and “nearly half had drugs and/or alcohol concerns”.

Acting Deputy Chief Constable Paul Kennedy said the force had taken steps to safeguard those detained in custody, and was working with other health-based agencies to ensure they remained safe.

He said: “Before the health-based ‘places of safety’ were introduced in Scarborough, Northallerton, York and Harrogate during the past two years, those detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act were routinely placed in a police cell as the only viable alternative.

"This situation was completely unacceptable in every respect, not least for the distressed people who found themselves in a cell when in dire need for specialist care.”

Mr Kennedy said the changes had reduced the number of people detained under the act by 80 per cent in three years - from 278 in 2013/14 to 57 in 2015/16.

He also said there had been “excellent progress” in reducing the number of under-18s suffering from mental health issues who were detained in police custody, with just one of 32 taken first to a place of safety before taken into custody.