Police forces have hit back over claims that traffic police numbers have been cut by as much as 44% over the last five years. Road safety charity Brake published figures this week suggesting that police forces across Great Britain have, on average, cut their traffic police numbers by 12%.

The charity said that reducing the number of traffic police will mean forces struggle to enforce drink driving, speeding and mobile phone infringements and could undermine a new drug driving law expected to be introduced next year.

But police forces identified in the survey claim that the findings are based on incorrect data. A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police, which was said to have cut traffic police numbers by 44%, said: “Brake was given the wrong numbers. They say we now have 35 traffic police but in fact it is 47; although we are down 10 officers since 2009.

“We have also now teamed up with Cambridgeshire Police and Hertfordshire Police and have officers working across borders.”

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: “These statistics are inaccurate. We do recognise that traffic officer numbers have reduced in recent years, but in a lot of forces other officers are picking up traffic duties.”

In response Brake said: “We are using data provided to us by police forces through their Freedom of Information offices, which we haven’t manipulated in any way. A couple of forces have come to us to say the data they originally provided might be incorrect, but only one has provided any alternative figures.”

(Photo: Paul Anderson)

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