More North Wales Police (NWP) officers were suspended from duty this year.

England and Wales saw a 44 per cent increase in the number of officers missing work due to suspensions compared to the same time last year.

Home Office figures show north Wales had the equivalent of five full-time officers suspended as of 31 March – there were none a year earlier.

Officers must have missed work for at least 28 days to be counted in the figures. Across England and Wales 694 were suspended as of March, up 44 per cent from 481 a year earlier.

Officers can be suspended while under investigation for misconduct.

These figures are a snapshot from the end of the financial year and will not include all suspensions over the course of the year.

Dr Sarah Charman – a professor of criminology and researcher of police culture – said efforts to restore public trust in the police cannot be a "short-term fix", adding: "Part of that activity is a determination to root out existing unacceptable police behaviours and a re-examination of many past allegations. It seems highly likely therefore that we will see an increase in the numbers of suspended police officers."

There was an overall increase in the number of unavailable officers across England and Wales, with nearly 6,000 officers absent from duty, or one in 20 of the total workforce.

NWP had the equivalent of 80 of its 1,720 officers absent as of March.

Over the same period, the total number of police personnel grew just 0.2 per cent across the country – making it unlikely the rise in absent officers is due to a larger number of officers in total.

Also contributing to the rise was a 20 per cent jump in officers missing work due to illness or injury. More than 3,000 officers were long-term sick at this point.

Despite this, 42 NWP officers were off work sick for 28 days or longer – a fall from 52 a year before.

In addition, 32 officers were absent due to parental leave.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is vitally important we restore the relationship between police and communities.

"To do that, we have committed to supporting thousands of extra police, PCSOs and Special Constables in communities across England and Wales.

"Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we will start to rebuild that trust and confidence the public should have in the police to keep them safe."