POLICE manning levels in the Forest of Dean have been brought into question yet again following a serious assault on a woman officer.

The police constable – who was on duty alone in a police car – was treated in hospital and is now on sick leave. A sergeant who went to her aid was also injured but was able to arrest a man who is due to appear in court charged with 13 offences relating to the incident which happened in Lydbrook. The sergeant is also on sick leave.

The assaults bring into question the use of single crewed police cars in rural areas.

A caller to the Review claimed criminals could be escaping justice because of a reluctance by officers working alone to tackle more than one person.

"A police officer working a single crewed car may well think twice about stopping a car with three or four male occupants. There has to be a risk and as assistance may not always be immediately available there must be occasions when possible offenders go free," said the caller.

Confirming the Lydbrook incident and asked to comment on the issue of single car crews operating in the Forest, Inspector David Smith said in ideal circumstances double crewing would be provided.

"The reality of the situation is that it is not possible. Response vehicles and the nightshift are double crewed but the community officers and sergeants and inspectors are normally single crewed," he said.

He said the single crew issue highlighted the often isolated conditions officers had to work in.

"It is by no means perfect and I accept that whether or not an officer working alone should stop a group of men is down to his or her judgment of the situation as it arises," he said.