Few Dyfed-Powys police officers identify as gay or lesbian, survey shows

Such forces include Dyfed-Powys Police and North Wales Police, with 2.9 per cent of officers identifying as gay or lesbian.

The snapshot figures were obtained from police forces by the PA news agency under Freedom of Information laws.

It says the true number is likely to be much higher with some officers being reluctant to come out to their employers amid concerns about their sexuality creating a barrier to promotion, or resulting in homophobic abuse.

Chief Inspector Lee Broadstock, co-chairman of the LGBT+ network representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans officers across the country, said: "If we're not representative of our communities then we don't understand that community. There needs to be an understanding of what the communities need to give people an equitable police service."

The percentage of officers in each force identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight was calculated by PA only where constabularies had data for at least half of its officers.

The highest percentage of officers identifying as gay or lesbian, of the 26 forces with relevant information, was in Sussex (7.2 per cent), followed by Humberside (6.2 per cent) and Hertfordshire (5.8 per cent).

Conversely, the lowest percentage of gay and lesbian officers was in Lincolnshire, 2.3 per cent, followed by Dyfed-Powys and North Wales (2.9).

Dyfed-Powys also had the lowest percentage of officers identifying as bisexual - 0.8 per cent.

The West Mercia Police figures show that 92.1 per cent of the workforce are recorded as heterosexual.

The Metropolitan Police - the country's largest force, with a headcount of more than 33,500 - only had data for 40.1 per cent of the workforce with 92.8 per cent describing themselves as heterosexual.

The figures showed 5.1 per cent identified as gay or lesbian, with 2.1 per cent bisexual.

Mr Broadstock, a chief inspector with Greater Manchester Police, said: "I think what the data suggests is that there is probably a higher concentration of officers who are LGB in areas where there is a more welcoming environment for them - that's where they will gravitate.

"Sometimes they don't trust what their force HR is going to do with their responses - are they going to be treated less favourably in future when it comes to promotions?

"It is sad that that is still the case sometimes, but the picture is absolutely improving.

"If you tried to get these figures 20 years ago it would have been a very different story - I doubt you would have got any data."

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, published in 2019, show an estimated 2.7 per cent of the UK population aged 16 and over identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, up from 2.2 per cent in 2018.