A North East crime commissioner has called for a "level playing field" on policing after it emerged forces in the region have been able to recruit a much smaller number of their lost officers than their southern counterparts.
Northumbria's Labour police and crime commissioner Kim McGuinness challenged the Home Secretary this week over recruitment figures which show some southern forces pushing past 2010 police officer levels, while those in the North are being held back.
In Essex last week, 74 new officers swore their oath to the king and swelled the local force's numbers to the highest total in its 182-year history. And it's a similar story in Cambridgeshire, which now has 1,671 officers, the highest in its history.
