FAT police officers face being banned from traffic duty unless they slim down because they are risking taking their squad cars over the maximum legal weight limit.

Tests have found that some patrol cars are so heavy that burly officers could tip them over the legal threshold. Some cars, with two officers present, are within 14 stone of the maximum, meaning that they can carry, at most, only one additional passenger.

A patrol car containing obese officers, which stopped a vehicle with two suspected criminals, would have to radio for assistance.

Beat officers have already been banned from eating junk food in staff canteens and threatened with annual fitness tests if they go above a certain weight. Now there are proposals for a maximum weight for traffic officers, and a review of equipment carried in police cars.

“A combination of two heavier police officers or a large suspect could mean the car is in excess of the maximum weight,” a police source said. “That will need to be monitored because, aside from the safety aspects, it’s a bit rich for us to be pulling people over for overloading their cars when our own vehicles may be illegal.”

Those cars which exceed safe weight limits would not be insured in the event of an accident, leaving forces vulnerable to high legal claims.

There are also concerns that exceeding weight limits could affect the vehicle’s handling and increase its stopping distances.

As well as overweight and obese officers, further weight is added with on-board computers, surveillance cameras, body armour, weighted traffic cones and stingers — a device deployed to deflate tyres. Other essentials include metal road signs, first aid kits and fire extinguishers.

A typical BMW 5 series Touring model, which is commonly used by traffic police, has a gross maximum weight of around two tonnes.

Lothian and Borders Police have ordered that only one back-seat passenger can be carried in some vehicles after recent tests found they were 14 stone inside the maximum weight allowance. The force said it is closely monitoring vehicle weights.

Similar results emerged from tests conducted by Grampian Police which are to be investigated by the force’s health and safety committee.

Chief constables of Scotland’s remaining six police forces are being urged to conduct rigorous tests to ensure that their fleet is safe. Under Department for Transport rules, drivers of overloaded vehicles face a £60 fine and three points on their licence. If the case goes to court, the maximum fine is £2,500 and a possible driving ban.

Joe Grant, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “There’s a very serious note to this. Buying ordinary, run-of-the-mill vehicles and kitting them out with weighty police paraphernalia remains questionable. The weight limit is there for a reason and it needs to be observed.”

Last year, a national fitness standard was introduced for police recruits in Scotland to weed out unhealthy applicants and create a healthy culture within the service.

Probationers — recruits serving their first two years in the force — are put through their paces in five tests, including running, step-ups and weights. Senior officers have also called for annual fitness tests, including diet monitoring, to ensure staff remain fit and healthy.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police, said: “We are aware weight is an issue for police vehicles . . . The weight check with additional equipment is now routine for all new models in the fleet.”

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