WOMEN police officers in Wiltshire are taking far more sick days than their male counterparts, new figures have revealed.

The county's female officers took an average of 17 days off through ill-health last year, compared to 12 days missed by the men.

Now the high rate of sickness among women officers is dragging down the force's attempts to hit Government targets to cut the number of sick days.

All forces have been told to cut their absence rates to the levels achieved by the 25 per cent best performing forces.

Currently, Wiltshire's overall sickness rate is higher than the national average, at 13.2 days missed per officer in the year ending last April.

But, if the women were excluded, its record would be only slightly worse than the average, which is currently 11.7 days missed per year.

Last year, the Home Office announced that sick and injured police officers would be offered private health care to get them back on the beat faster.

Forces have been told to take advantage of private health schemes to help them jump the queue at local NHS hospitals.

And they must do more to keep their staff healthy, by encouraging them to eat healthily, take exercise and undergo regular health checks.

The Home Office announced a £15 million three-year fund to encourage healthier police forces, to be divided up later this year.

A Parliamentary written answer revealed that the sick rate was significantly higher among women officers in around two-thirds of police forces.

Across the country, female officers take an average of 15 days off sick each year, while the men miss just 11 days.

A Home Office spokesman said the Government only collected information on the number of sick days missed in each force, but not the reasons why.

He said: "There is a difference between the average number of days missed by male and female officers, but we don't have the data to explain why it exists."

A Wiltshire police spokeswoman said: " Sickness/ absence is a problem for us like many other public sector organisations and we are concerned about levels of absence of police officers.

"We are investing in various fast track medical interventions to ensure that our officers receive the earliest possible diagnosis and treatment."