THE FAT BLUE LINE

Police uniform figures show the scale of officers who need to lose weight BLOBBIES ON THE BEAT

THE fitness of police officers in Scotland has been called into question after it was revealed that one in five pairs of trousers issued is a 38in waist.

NHS guidelines say men with waists of 37in or more should lose weight.

But Police Scotland’s clothing depot in Glasgow issued more than 1500 pairs of bigger trousers to male officers in the past year.

A third of the 3085 pairs of trousers handed out to women officers were a size 34in or above.

NHS guidelines say females size 31.5in and above should lose weight.

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: “It is essential that public service personnel are fit for purpose and are of a physique that will allow them to act in an emergency.”

Scottish Tory community justice spokesman Oliver Mundell added: “There’s an expectation that police officers should be fit enough

■ 1500 pairs of men’s trousers size 38in and above ■ 3000 pairs of women’s trousers size 34in and above ■ 20 XXXXL men’s tops ■ 2 XXXL women’s tops

to tackle threats. It’s important some level of fitness is guaranteed.”

Twenty XXXXL tops were issued to male police staff over the past year and two XXXL tops went to women.

A study by Strathclyde University showed one in five officers is obese.

A police spokesman said: “Waist size of an officer cannot be used in isolation as a way of determining their fitness to carry out the role as a police officer.

“Many other factors need to be considered, including blood pressure and other vital measures, medical history, medical status and fitness testing.”