Suffolk Constabulary has become the latest regional body to release its gender pay gap figures.

The force, which is based in Martlesham Heath, reported a gap of 14.7pc between the mean hourly rates of pay for male and female full pay employees.

These figures are comparable to those of Suffolk County Council which reported a gap of just 0.1pc higher.

Men also accounted for 74pc of the officers and staff receiving the highest bands of pay at the force whereas more women were found in the lowest quartile of staff pay at 64pc.

In releasing the figures Suffolk Constabulary stressed that police officer and staff pay was determined nationally.

They also highlighted the fact that there are more police officers than staff at the force as well as more male police officers than their female counterparts.

Suffolk Constabulary also stressed the work it is undertaking to reduce the pay gap by encouraging more women to join the force as police officers and believe that 'this is already having a positive effect'.

The Suffolk Association for Women in Policing also helps to support females working within the constabulary.

However, when it came to the gap between bonus payments, the details released by Suffolk police indicate that the proportion of female staff receiving a bonus payment was higher than their male colleagues.

Five percent of females receive a bonus at the force compared with 3.9pc of men.

This left the mean average bonus gap between men and women 54.7pc in favour of

women.

Chief constable Gareth Wilson said: 'It is essential we have a diverse and representative workforce at all levels within the organisation, much work is being done nationally and locally to enable this to happen.

'There are many underlying factors that are seen nationally which add complexity to the issue of the gender pay gap within policing.

'This is not an issue of equal pay, we have a robust job evaluation process that ensures equal pay for equal responsibility. In addition, police officer pay is set nationally.

'This is an issue of ensuring men and women are represented at all levels and in all roles and I am committed to making this happen'.