POLICE numbers have reached a record level, it was confirmed today.

And the West Yorkshire force has seen the biggest increase over the past 12 months.

The county has taken on an extra 385 officers in the 12 months up to March 2005 - a rise of 7%.

West Yorkshire has also employed extra community support officers, taking the total to 394 - a figure bettered only by the Metropolitan Police.

The extra staffing means that West Yorkshire now has 4,336 male officers and 1,336 female officers, a total of 5,672.

There are also 417 Special Constables working in the county.

There are increases in most other parts of the country.

It means that Britain now has more than 141,000 police officers for the first time, Home Office Minister Paul Goggins announced.

Police officer numbers are up by more than 2,000 nationally since March 2004 to 141,230.

The number of Special Constables has increased by nearly 1,000 since March 2004 to 11,918. This is the first annual increase in specials since 1992.

Community support officers are up by nearly 2,800 to 6,214 and police staff are up by nearly 3,300 to 70,869.

Mr Goggins said: "Police numbers are at their highest ever levels.

"Numbers have risen steadily for several years now. We are committed to funding the service to enable it to continue to employ historically high numbers of police officers.

"While record police officer numbers is excellent news, it is how policing is delivered that is important. By 2008 every area will benefit from dedicated, visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing teams.

"Led by police officers, these teams will also include community support officers and special constables, and will provide a more modern, efficient and effective service to local communities."