Nearly one in 10 police officers in the West Midlands have been unable to be deployed to the front line due to poor health, figures suggest.

The force had 710 officers on restricted or recuperative duties last year.

This is the equivalent to eight per cent of the force’s total bobbies.

Nationally, one in every 14 police officers is restricted because of poor health, the figures suggested.

The number of officers in England and Wales on restricted or recuperative duties has reached 9,815, about seven per cent of the total workforce.

The Metropolitan Police has the largest number of officers on restricted duties, at 1,957, about six per cent.

Chris Rowson, corporate personnel manager at West Midlands Police, said today: “Officers who are not deployable are often recovering from muscular, skeletal or other injuries or conditions suffered during the course of what can be a demanding and physical job.

“Although recorded as ‘not deployable’ they can often carry out patrol duties and other vital public facing parts of the job, but may not be able to perform activities which are more demanding given their condition.”

Paul McKeever, of the Police Federation, said forces should invest more money in rehabilitation to help the situation.