Complaints up against police.

Byline: CARL BUTLER

COMPLAINTS against North Wales Police are up 22% according to a police watchdog.

Only five of England and Wales' 43 forces had a greater increase.

But the Independent Police Complaints Commission says North Wales Police are "above average" in dealing with complaints locally.

Nationally most complaints are against rude officers and officers arriving late at incidents.

The figures are released on the same day that research by the British Crime Survey (BCS) 2006/07 shows more than a quarter of respondents said they had been 'really annoyed' by their contact with police.

IPCC complaint statistics highlight the trend for resolving more complaints by local resolution rather than by the more time-consuming complaint machinery.

Nationally the greatest number of complaints are about rude police officers who are late attending incidents.

Across the England and Wales' 43 forces, during 2008/09 complaints rose 8% on average from the previous year to 31,259. In North Wales they rose from 319 in 2007/8 to 390 in 2008/9. In total, the number of complaints has risen by approximately 8,000 since 2004/05 when the Independent Police Complaints Commission first became responsible for collecting the data.

As in previous years most complaints nationally are about 'neglect of duty' (24%) and 'incivility' (21%), essentially being rude and late.