POLICE crashes by the North Yorkshire force have amounted to a repair bill of almost £500,000 in the last two years.

Officers and staff were involved in 332 vehicle collisions throughout 2015 and 340 a year later, according to figures obtained by The Press through the Freedom of Information Act.

The total repair bill came to £209,199 in 2015 and, 12 months later, came in at £266,346 - more than £50,000 more - a combined total of £475,545 within 24 months.

York Press:

The most common place for staff to have accidents over the two years was in police station car parks or close to offices.

In 2015, police officers and staff crashed 49 times outside stations or offices.

Accidents took place in stations all over North Yorkshire, including Fulford Road and North Street in York and stations such as Harrogate, Tadcaster, Richmond, Northallerton and Filey.

A year later, according to the figures, North Yorkshire Police recorded 46 crashes at police stations and their offices.

One crash included an incident where an officer was driving in Wetherby Road, Harrogate, at about 3.15pm on November 17 last year when his police car was in collision with a silver Seat Altea.

The woman driving the Seat was checked over by paramedics and was uninjured, but the male officer was taken to Harrogate District Hospital with minor injuries.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said the taxpayer does not pick up the bill for crashes and they are covered by insurance.

The spokesman added: “North Yorkshire Police is self-insured in respect of damage to its vehicles.

“Where a third party is deemed to be responsible for an accident, the cost of repairs is recovered from the third party.”