Police in Wales pay out £280,000 in staff injury claims

A total of 93 compensation claims were put in by police staff at the four Welsh forces since 2007

Police forces in Wales have paid out more than £280,000 in personal injury claims to their own staff in the past three years.

There have been claims for injuries sustained by "defective office furniture", an "item falling from cupboard", and "injury in gym".

Dyfed-Powys Police paid out more than £94,000, South Wales £84,000, North Wales £52,000 and Gwent £49,000.

The details were received by the BBC under Freedom of Information requests.

The figures reveal 93 compensation claims were put in by police staff working for the four Welsh forces since 2007.

The largest pay out was for £37,862 by South Wales Police in 2007/08. This included £16,000 in damages.

South Wales has seen the number of cases drop from 16 in 2007/08 to eight in 2009/10.

All four forces have been asked to comment but only Dyfed-Powys has so far responded.

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: "The figure of £94,000 is the total cost over the three-year period and includes damages and the legal costs of the claimants.

"There are no recognisable trends nor any underlaying issues in the number or nature of claims received.

"A robust approach is taken when investigating, handling and or defending each claim, dependant upon the individual circumstances and merits.

"This benefit can be reflected in the continued reduction in claims per annum."

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said it would be "unwise" to spectulate on trends as the majority of the claims were ongoing.

"Also, because of the relevant limitation periods for claims to be received, the figures listed are possibly not the final figures. Numbers of claims are dynamic and those listed were simply a snapshot at the time of the FOI request."