Essex Police says its officers are ‘busy catching criminals’ after it emerged it had used actors in its recruitment adverts.

The force has been running a recruitment campaign since September which it says has attracted record numbers of men and women from diverse backgrounds to join a fast-growing force.

But Kevin Maxwell, a black and gay former Met detective has described the campaign as 'embarrassing’, according to the Mail.

He said greater effort should be made to change the culture of policing rather than using ‘smiley faced actors’.

Essex Police has hit back at the criticism and insists the recruitment drive is creating interest from people of all backgrounds.

In a statement on its website, the force said: “In some online videos, actors were used to stand-in for photo and video images.

“This was done so that officers could focus on catching criminals, which is what they want to do and what the people of Essex expect.

“In addition to the online videos, 50 officers from all backgrounds took a moment to do a quick selfie to complement the campaign videos and to explain what the job is like.

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“Essex Police values everyone’s views, and values the things that make us different whether it’s gender, ethnicity, sexuality or our outlook on life.”

The force says its We Value Difference campaign has led to 1,295 people applying for a job as an officer – of which 202 are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background.

It also says the campaign has attracted 486 women to apply to join between Septemner 2020 and January 2021.

This compares to 99 applications from people from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background, and 381 applications from women during the same period the previous year.