Suspended cops cost Britain 6 mn pounds a year

London: Police officers suspended from duty but getting full pay cost the British economy around six million pounds (nearly $10 million) last year, a media report said on Sunday.

At the beginning of 2012, 174 police officers were off work on full pay. Of these, 34 had spent the whole of 2011 being paid while not being allowed to work, reported the Daily Express.

An officer in Northern Ireland was suspended but has been on full pay since October 2004.

"Where a police officer is being investigated for alleged misconduct it may be appropriate during the course of the inquiry to remove them from their duties," said Deputy Chief Constable John Feavyour, of the Association of Chief Police Officers.