Complaints against Cambridgeshire Police rose three percent last year, the lowest of all police forces in the East of England.

Figures released by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) show 393 complaints were made to Cambs Police but the rise fell short of the national eight percent increase to the number of complaints.

The number of allegations in those complaints fell by a small margin from 671 to 634, and of the three main categories, incivility allegations fell significantly to 124.

In the other main categories, neglect of duty allegations rose by six to 179, while allegations of assault fell by three to 78 from the previous year.

Nearly half of all police complaints were for incivility and neglect of duty which are also known as ‘rude and late’ and this year the IPCC introduced a new set of indicators to see how well complaints are being handled.

Rachel Cerfontyne, IPCC Commissioner for Cambridgeshire, said: ““Last year there was a further increase in the number of people complaining about the police.

“The number of ‘rude and late’ complaints highlights the standards expected of the police service and the need to improve how they interact with the public. However, while some aspects can be improved without cost, such as through better leadership, smaller police budgets will present a challenge around levels of service and public expectation. This will require forces to develop an open dialogue with the public.”