No misconduct action was taken against Surrey police officers despite hundreds of complaints being lodged over one year, new figures show.

The Police Federation said the actions of a small proportion of officers from some forces should not harm the police's reputation.

However, the figures come in the wake of a number of high profile cases of police misconduct and criminal behaviour nationally.

These include former West Midlands detective Nicholas Taylor, who was found guilty of gross misconduct for selling sexual services to strangers, and Met officer Wayne Couzens, who was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard last year.

Home Office figures show there were 528 complaints about officers in Surrey Police in the year to April 2021.

But none were referred to the official disciplinary process, launched when an officer is deemed to have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct, while no action at all was recorded in 98 per cent of complaints.

A small number of allegations involving actions that do not amount to misconduct but fall short of expectations of police behaviour led to reflective review proceedings or performance reviews.

The complaints in 2020-21 involved 231 Surrey police officers – an officer can be subject to more than one allegation and an allegation can involve multiple officers.

But Surrey Police has defended its record.

A force spokesman said: “Surrey Police has a robust complaints and misconduct system in place to determine the facts as quickly as possible and to be able to remove or sanction those guilty of misconduct.

“The force is committed to rooting out those who betray our professional standards and to give the confidence to all officers and staff to call out and report concerns.

“The force does not tolerate any form of misconduct and there are a range of options available depending on the level of misconduct, ranging from learning through reflective practice or performance reviews, to gross misconduct hearings chaired by an independent panel and accelerated gross misconduct hearings chaired by the Chief Constable.

“Misconduct hearings and their outcomes are publicised on the Force web site to ensure openness and transparency.”

Across England and Wales, 14,393 official complaints were made against police officers.

Only one per cent of these led to an official process to hear the case, while no action was taken in 92 per cent of grievances raised.

The Police Federation of England and Wales said most officers "come into the police service to protect the public and act with integrity and respect".

Phill Matthews, conduct and performance lead at the Police Federation, condemned the behaviour of a small minority, which he said should not taint the police's reputation.

Mr Matthews said: "The police service is very good at uncovering those that don’t deserve to be in the job."

Surrey figures also show there were 80 allegations of "conduct matter" offences, where there is an indication a crime has been committed – involving 31 police officers.

There were also 25 allegations against six officers for "recordable conduct" matters, including those that caused serious harm or death, and allegations of sexual offences and corruption.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates the most serious police misconduct allegations, said an investigated case may not always lead to a finding of misconduct.

"There are a range of options including organisational or individual learning, providing an explanation, or providing an apology," a spokesperson added.

"These are all designed to have a range of options to resolve the complaint.

"Therefore, only the most serious cases will result in proceedings."