POLICE officers in North Yorkshire could have temptation put in their way in an attempt to root out corruption.

Senior officers are looking at introducing integrity testing, which could see valuables or money left within reach of staff already under suspicion of wrongdoing.

Others could be tested by being confronted with an apparently drunk police colleague at the wheel of a car, to see if they look the other way. Assistant Chief Constable Peter Bagshaw said it was inevitable there would be unethical or even corrupt staff within North Yorkshire police, but that the tests would be conducted to protect both the force and the public.

"We have problems within the organisation where people act corruptly, unethically or outside our statements of principle," he said.

"We have to be realistic - in an organisation that employs more than 3,000 people it would be a miracle if we didn't have people who fell below the high standards that we set ourselves. We can't bury our heads in the sand and we have to harden our policies to prevent easy opportunities for corruption."

Mr Bagshaw said the force would have to tread carefully to ensure it was not acting as an agent provocateur.

"We don't want to be setting up a situation where someone could get into trouble when they wouldn't have otherwise," he said. "There must be a reason for the test to be carried out, and this would be targeted at officers who were already under suspicion and we would have to prove a pattern of behaviour."

Mr Bagshaw said the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), who have drawn up the new national guidelines for corruption prevention and ethical standards, had already discussed bringing in random integrity testing. The force is also looking at introducing drug testing for its employees, although these would have to be carried out with the subject's agreement as questions remain about the legality of random drug tests.

Les Coverdale, of the North Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, said that while they had been in negotiation with the force on integrity policy, the Assistant Chief Constable's remarks had come as a complete surprise.

He said: "We would not want to support something as blatant as the setting-up of officers, but until the force executive make these remarks known to us, we cannot comment further at this stage."