CLEVELAND Police officers have achieved top marks in exams to become sergeants.

The officers were quizzed on road traffic, evidence and procedure, crime and general police duties in the OSPRE part 1 exams.

When compared with police forces in Merseyside, North-umbria, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, Cleveland's officers average percentage exam scores were the highest in that group,at 57 per cent.

In road traffic and evidence and procedure, Cleveland's officers were several points ahead of those from other forces.

Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price said: "This is great news for the force and for the communities we serve.

"Cleveland will only benefit from having highly-trained, highly-qualified and highly- motivated officers who have shown they are up there with the creme de la creme."

Training and development manager Iain Collier said: "We implemented a tailor-made study package with workshops and mock exams, which helped us boost our pass rate quite substantially.

"Obviously such feedback is always welcome, but we will also use it to help more officers in the future by making adjustments to their preparation as and where they are needed."