SO the three suspended Harrogate policemen have been cleared for a second time. Eight months after being told they were not to be prosecuted over allegations of misconduct, the internal police investigation has also found them innocent of all charges.

That must be a huge relief to Chief Inspector Peter Turnbull, Detective Sergeant Jim Hartnett, Sergeant Paul Vigars and their families. Fully 18 months after being suspended from duty they can go back to work without a stain on their reputations.

It is also a relief for fellow officers, not to mention the hard-pressed North Yorkshire tax-payer. Due to inadequate funding and a poor sickness record, the county force is chronically under-staffed as it is. Paying for three senior officers to stay off work is a luxury no one can afford.

According to our sources, the investigation has cost North Yorkshire police more than £1 million. That could have paid for more officers on the beat or any number of crime-busting initiatives.

It is utterly ludicrous that so much time and money has been wasted.

While the law insists that a criminal suspect is charged within 24 hours of arrest or released, internal police disciplinary procedures allow officers to remain under suspicion for 18 months.

A major reason for this delay could be that complaints against police officers are invariably investigated by other police officers. Force politics inevitably play their part in slowing things down.

Even the most serious allegations are investigated by other police officers, albeit from a different force, under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority.

Confidence in this system had already broken down before we revealed the cost of the Harrogate inquiry.

In May a Government-commissioned report suggested a new Independent Agency for Complaints Against the Police be created. The sooner this is established the better for police and public.