A record number of police officers have been suspended on full pay over alleged wrongdoing – at a cost of £2.6million a month.
Allegations against the 750 officers ordered to stay away from work while they are being investigated range from sexual misconduct to brutality and corruption.
The number on so-called 'gardening leave' is up 5 per cent on the 711 officers who were suspended last year, and more than treble the 225 recorded in 2022.
They are clocking up an estimated weekly wage bill of £650,000.
It comes after Met Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist voiced frustration that the force had paid a senior officer for five years while a disciplinary procedure dragged on.
