Police trained to tackle riots, but toasters just too risky

Police officers in the City and Holbeck division in Leeds have been banned from using toasters owing to health and safety concerns.

Officers at four police stations in the division have been told not to use the appliances after a fire involving a toaster at Holbeck police station.

The small fire is understood to have caused superficial damage to the floor and some blinds.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the fire started as a result of a toaster on the premises but he did not know if it was an electrical fault or had been caused by a food item being left in the appliance for too long.

He said: "It was a bad fire. Not bad enough to call out the fire service but it was bad.

"The ban is not force-wide but in the Holbeck division."

The toaster ban has angered rank-and-file officers and the Police Federation.

"Despite the fact we drive fast cars, deal with public order, guns and knives and put ourselves daily in dangerous situations, due to health and safety we can't use toasters," one disgruntled officer told Radio Leeds yesterday.

Michael Downes, of West Yorkshire Police Federation, said the ban was an example of "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut" and called for a re-think.

Mr Downes said Holbeck station did not have a cooker and busy officers relied on a toaster for a quick meal such as microwaved beans on toast.

Many other stations across West Yorkshire still had toasters, as did fire stations, he said.