Wiltshire Police investigated five allegations of officers committing violence against women in six months.

The county’s force oversaw these complaint and misconduct cases between October 1 and March 31, 2022.

During this same time period, police forces across England and Wales, as well as the British Transport Police, flagged a total of 653 conduct cases against 672 people as relating to violence against women and girls, along with 524 public complaint cases against 867 individuals.

In total, this equates to 0.7 per cent of the police workforce employed in March 2022 having such accusations made against them.

This new information comes from the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s first assessment of police performance which analyses how the law enforcers respond to complaints about their employees in relation to sexual harassment, discreditable conduct, and sexual assault.

Almost two-thirds of the public complaints were categorised as use of force (63 per cent). In these cases, women will have complained about the use of force in, for example, handcuffing or arrest.

Nine per cent of complaints involved overbearing or harassing behaviour, while six per cent involved allegations of sexual assault.

Women's Aid chief executive Farah Nazeer said: "These statistics have deeply worrying implications for women’s already low levels of trust in the criminal justice system.

"We are calling for the full implementation of the inspectorate’s recommendations on vetting, misconduct and misogyny in policing."

Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “Misconduct in any shape or form within the police service is totally unacceptable and we are committed to rooting out corrupt officers and staff within our workforce.

“We understand how much damage these individuals can do to public confidence, and will do everything in our power to ensure we build a culture and environment that is hostile to any potential perpetrators.

“The force is 100 per cent committed to ensuring a culture exists, where those who are entrusted to serve as police officers and staff, do so in a manner which is beyond reproach.

"There is no place in policing for those who do not display and live the highest professional standards at all times.

"In each of the five cases, we acted swiftly to ensure a comprehensive investigation took place into the allegations reported.

“Violence is one of Chief Constable Roper’s priorities as set out just two weeks ago when she took up post here in Wiltshire, and it is vitally important that all victims of crime feel confident that they will be listened to when they report to us, and that we will take their concerns seriously."