A REPORT this week has revealed that Greater Manchester Police received the second most sexual misconduct allegations of any police force in England.

A total of 20 sexual misconduct allegations made against GMP officers were reported by the Independent Office for Police Conduct with only London's Metropolitan Police recording more with 31.

This contrasts starkly with neighbouring Lancashire Police, which recorded six sexual conduct allegations in the same period, Merseyside Police which recorded just two and North Yorkshire Police which recorded none.

GMP head of professional standards Detective Chief Superintendent John Chadwick said: "Any abuse of position for sexual purpose is absolutely unacceptable.

"Greater Manchester Police is the second largest force in the country, and we will not stand for any behaviour which does not reflect the high level of professionalism and integrity we expect of our officers."

He added: "We will not shy away from demonstrating to the public that we are taking action against this behaviour.

"We know we have work to do to rebuild trust with the public, and by publicising any incidents whereby an officer has not performed to the level of professionalism we expect, we will continue show that this will not be tolerated."

This came as part of a total of 3,581 allegations made against the Greater Manchester force.

Across the city region, the greatest number of allegation made were about the delivery of police duties and services, with 1,516 allegations made.

Next came police powers, procedures and polices with 780 allegations and and then "individual behaviour" with 721 claims.

There were 191 allegations about discriminatory behaviour and 41 claims about abuse of power or corruption.

In total 2,161 full complaints were made over this period, with a single complaint capable of comprising multiple allegations.

DCS Chadwick said: "We welcome being held to account and expect anyone who receives a service that breaches our moral and professional standards to report it to our Professional Standards Branch, where it will be dealt with thoroughly, or the IOPC.

"Where misconduct is found, we will take robust action to preserve a force that predominantly comprises thousands of officers and staff who carry out their duties respectfully to protect the public and prevent crime."