Met looks east for new staff

Scotland Yard is set to recruit officers from as far afield as China in an effort to boost police numbers.

The Met will focus on a recruitment drive in former Commonwealth and Far East countries. The move is being planned in anticipation of new legislation next year which could allow foreign nationals to join the British police service for the first time in 170 years.

Among the areas senior officers are considering for recruitment campaigns are India, China and the West Indies.

The Met wants an extra 3,400 police officers over the coming year. To reflect London's diverse population, a quarter of Scotland Yard's manpower must come from ethnic-minority groups by 2010. At present ethnic-minority officers make up about 4.5 per cent of the Met's strength.

Assistant Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, the head of the Met's human resources department, said: "The employment market in London is saturated. Many of the communities in the capital are based in other countries, so recruiting abroad is a pragmatic solution."

A clause in Home Secretary David Blunkett's Police Reform Bill removes the restriction on foreign nationals serving in the police service.