It really is Britain’s largest force! Met Police chiefs order trousers in sizes up to XXXXXXL among thousands of pairs with a waist of 40 inches or more
- The large waistlines put the coppers at risk of obesity-related illnesses
Published: 01:00, 10 February 2024 | Updated: 02:15, 10 February 2024
London[2]‘s Metropolitan Police[3] ordered thousands of trousers with plus size waistlines last year, with one officer requiring a pair with an XXXXXXL waist.
The revelations, which came from a Freedom of Information request, suggested the Met is the UK’s largest police force in more ways than one.
The figures shoed one male officer had a pair of trousers ordered with a whopping 62 inches waist while the largest trousers ordered for a female officer were a size 44.
Slightly smaller sizes ordered included two pairs of 54 inches trousers and four pairs of 52 inches trousers.
While the most common size for plus size male officers was a 40 inches waist and a size 20 for their female counterparts, according to figures reported by The Sun[4].
The Met police-force is the UK’s largest police-force in more ways than one after it has been revealed last year the force ordered thousands of trousers with a waist of 40 inches or more (stock image)
One Met police officer ordered a pair of trousers with a whopping 62 inches waist.
Slightly smaller sizes ordered included two pairs of 54 inches trousers and four pairs of 52 inches trousers (stock image)
Prospective Met officers are required to take a Job Related Fitness Test before being admitted to training.
An online pamphlet says: ‘You will be required to undertake a running test (known as the Multi-stage Shuttle Run Test or Bleep Test).
‘To pass – improve your fitness before your medical.
For the Bleep Test, aim for a hard run for 20 to 30 minutes, three times a week.’
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said previously it was not always possible to determine a person’s fitness by their waist size.
It’s not just the Met with a fat cop problem.
MailOnline reported in August 2023 that other police forces also had large orders of plus size pants[5].
West Midlands Police bought 1,872 pairs of trousers at 40 inches and one with a waist of 56 inches.
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police ordered 633 pairs of plus size trousers and three sized at 50 inches.
Merseyside Police purchased 267 sets of trousers between 40 and 50 inches.
According the British Heart Foundation, a waist larger than 40 inches and 34.6 inches in women is considered ‘very high.’
NHS says that obese people with ‘very large waists’, of 37 inches or more in men and 31 inches or more in women, are more likely to develop obesity-related illnesses such as type two diabetes or high cholesterol[6].
References
- ^ Ed Holt (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ London (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Metropolitan Police (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
- ^ other police forces also had large orders of plus size pants (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ develop obesity-related illnesses such as type two diabetes or high cholesterol (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ London (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Met Police (www.dailymail.co.uk)