He is the controversial police chief who has earned the ire of motorists and road-safety campaigners alike for his love of speed cameras and his decision to display photographs of dead accident victims.

But Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, was last night under pressure to explain why his own force, labelled the “Traffic Taleban” for its fervent pursuit of speeders, finished top of a league table for accident-prone police services.

Statistics obtained by The Times show that Mr Brunstrom’s force has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for crashes – more than any other comparable police service for which data was available.

Critics also questioned why no police driver has faced internal disciplinary proceedings in the past ten years, despite the fact that the force has paid out nearly £500,000 in compensation since 2000 – an average of more than £70,000 a year.

Similarly sized rural forces such as Norfolk and West Mercia constabularies paid out £21,800 and £30,000 respectively last year. Grampian Police paid out just £425 in the past three years. Even South Wales Police, which is about twice the size of its northern neighbour, has paid an average of £28,000 in compensation claims over the past eight years, despite policing a more urban region.

More than two thirds of North Wales Police’s compensation payouts were paid in 95 personal injury claims.

In the past seven years, six North Wales Police officers have been prosecuted for driving offences committed while on duty, according to the force. Last year, 16 officers from the force were prosecuted for speeding, though it is unclear how many were on duty at the time.

Mr Brunstrom’s zero-tolerance approach to the crime has led to North Wales drivers being the most fined in the country. The force charged fixed-penalty notices for speeding that equated to £6 for every resident last year.

North Wales Police argue that the zero-tolerance policy had saved lives, but Mr Brunstrom sparked controversy earlier this year when he showed journalists and campaigners a picture of a crash victim’s severed head, still in its motorcycle helmet. The man’s family had not given permission for the photograph to be used.

Martyn Jones, MP for Clwyd South, said: “It is clear that something must be done about what may be described as a lack of internal discipline resulting in needless waste.”

Analysis by The Times using statistics disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act shows that the amount of compensation paid by police forces after crashes involving their vehicles reached an estimated £10 million last year. The sum was extrapolated from the responses of the 25 police authorities that held compensation records.

The findings also show that last year there were 15,000 accidents involving police vehicles. The average number of crashes per force has risen 14 per cent since 2000, though the figure has fallen after a peak of 452 per force in 2004.

Ian Shannon, Assistant Chief Constable of North Wales Police, who is also head of driver training standards for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “Standards of police driving are taken extremely seriously in North Wales. We rigorously apply the ACPO policy in relation to pursuits. We also have a very highly regarded driving school with a structured programme of training, including refresher training.” Last year the number of deaths from police crashes rose to 52, 40 of which were the result of pursuits, prompting the Independent Police Complaints Commission to claim that police drivers were taking too many risks. Police said most were caused by dangerous civilian drivers.

Accident payouts

North Wales: £70,393
Dorset: £50,313
Suffolk: £38,444
Lincolnshire: £30,325
Northamptonshire: £25,000

Source: Annual average from statistics released by police forces (only forces without significant urban areas have been included)