The full weight of the law proved too much as police failed to squeeze into uniforms for a Christmas op.
Each year a force’s plain-clothed officers join uniformed colleagues on the streets to increase police presence as a deterrent.
But last year about 50 plain-clothed officers from West Midlands Police had piled on so much weight that they needed new uniforms so Birmingham’s operation Silent Night could go ahead.
This year some officers have been put on fitness and weight loss plans to avoid a repeat of 2021.
A former bobby said: “Officers were highly visible but not in the way that was expected. It was a big problem – in more ways than one. Many officers who had not worn their uniform since the previous year couldn’t fit into them.
“Some needed adjustments and others needed completely new uniforms. It cost a few quid.
“There’d have been a few red faces if the op had been called off because of overweight officers.” In 2020 Hampshire Police admitted more than two thirds of its officers were overweight.
That year London’s Met lived up to its billing as Britain’s biggest force – it put in an order for 5,000 trousers in size XL.
West Midlands Police did not reply to requests for comment.
