Norfolk police was the subject of 580 complaints from members of the public last year.

The number of cases logged is below the national average – but the constabulary has accepted it needs to respond to allegations quicker.

The complaints, revealed in a report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), included 1,229 separate allegations.

Among them were 45 allegations of corruption, 35 alleging discriminatory behaviour, 47 of damage to property and one of sexual misconduct.

The largest number of complaints, 507, were about the way officers carried out their duties, while 262 alleged misuse of police powers, and 51 were about access to or the disclosure of information.

The total number of complaints in 2020/21 was 183 per 1,000 employees, below the national average of 290 per 1,000.

In terms of the time taken to log complaints, Norfolk took on average just two days, below the national average of six.

However, it fell behind the national average in relation to the number of days it took for the force to contact complainants, taking on average eight days to speak to the person logging a complaint.

Head of professional standards for Norfolk Constabulary, Tracey Maria-Little, said: “Our professional standards team is a high-performing team and works extremely hard to ensure all complaints are dealt with as expeditiously, thoroughly and as professionally as possible.

“Members of the public can express dissatisfaction with the service they have received from the police for a variety of reasons.

“The force endeavours to resolve any complaint in the most appropriate way to the satisfaction of the complainant and where the service has fallen below the standard expected we will offer an apology.”

The IOPC figures are the first since a new system of recording complaints began in 2020 and changes in legislation.

They show 41pc of cases were handled informally with an explanation being given to the complainant, while 31pc resulted in no further action.

Detective Superintendent Maria-Little said more serious complaints are investigated by the Professional Standards Department (PSD) with evidence carefully reviewed from both a criminal and misconduct perspective.

“By their very nature, investigating complaints can be a complex and lengthy process depending on the seriousness and we regularly review the performance of PSD and seek to make improvements to our processes where it is felt appropriate and necessary,” she said.