Ananova:

Some police officers are so overweight they can only transport one suspect in their squad cars.

Tests found some police vehicles carrying two hefty officers are within 14 stone of legal weight limits, reports the Daily Telegraph.

That means they can only carry one suspect in the back of the car and if two people are arrested the officers would have to radio for another vehicle.

Overweight police cars may not be insured if they are involved in an accident and officers could be left open to legal action by suspects injured in an a crash.

Officers could also be fined for driving an overloaded vehicle on the roads and there are concerns that the weight burden could affect the handling and stopping distances of patrol cars.

One force, Lothian and Borders, has already decided that only one passenger can be carried in the back of some of its vehicles because they are close to legal weight limits.

The standard patrol car is a 1.6-litre Ford Focus or a 1.3-litre Vauxhall Astra. As well as police officers they carry computers, cameras, fire extinguishers, stingers, metal road signs and body armour.

Joe Grant, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said: "There's a very serious note to this. Buying ordinary, run-of-the-mill vehicles and kitting them out with weighty police paraphernalia remains questionable. The weight limit is there for a reason and it needs to be observed."