The fat blue line! Metropolitan Police chiefs order thousands of pairs of XXL trousers with waists over 40in as cops’ weight balloons

Police forces have ordered thousands of pairs of XXL trousers for their officers with over 40 inch waists, new figures show.

The country’s six largest forces placed almost 9,000 orders for the trousers – some of which reached up to 56 inches in width.

Well over half of those – 5,199 – were ordered by London‘s Metropolitan Police, which also purchased 100 sets of cycling shorts with 40 inch-plus waists.

Other forces surveyed included West Midlands Police, who bought in 1,872 pairs at 40 inches or more, including one with a 56ins waist.

Greater Manchester Police ordered 633 pairs of the trousers, with three sized at 50-inches.

The country’s six largest forces placed almost 9,000 orders for the trousers – some of which reached up to 56 inches in width 

Merseyside Police purchased 267 sets of trousers between 40 and 50 inches.

In Northumbria, there were ten sets of trousers with a waist of 50 inches. The force also paid for six for female officers which came in a 47-inch waist.

The information was gathered using Freedom of Information requests and reported by The Sun.

Responding to the information, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said a person’s fitness may not always be determined by the size of their waist.

A spokesman said: ‘Job Relate Fitness Testing will form part of the Police Officer application process and will continue throughout ones career at regular intervals.

‘Officers will undertake a running test known as a Multi Stage Shuttle Test also known as a Bleep Test to ensure they have adequate fitness levels to carry out their duties.’

Last year, it was revealed the Met ordered 7,343 pairs of trousers which included the sizes 40in, 50in, 52in and a whopping 56in – the equivalent of 4.5ft.

And just over two years ago, as many as two thirds of officers in Hampshire Constabulary were considered either overweight or obese. 

Advice issued by NHS watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) states that people’s waistlines should be just under half their height. 

Annual fitness tests became compulsory for all police officers in England and Wales in 2014 following a national review

The advice says the ratio for a healthy waist should be between 0.4 to 0.49, while a ratio of 0.5 to 0.59 puts people at an increased risk of health issues. 

This means, under the NHS watchdog guidance, a six-foot person should have no more than a 36-inch waist.

Two in three adults are classified as overweight or obese in the UK, according to the National Health Survey.

This number has ballooned over the past 30 years, with the number of unhealthy people soon to out number healthy people in five years’ time, according to Cancer Research UK. 

Predictions by the charity said 40 per cent will be obese in 20 years’ time while at least 70 per cent of people will be overweight or obese. 

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 different types of cancer, the charity warned, with about 22,800 cases of the disease linked to being overweight.