Police leaders say that the high number of senior officers being investigated has highlighted the "acute" pressures they are facing.

The Police Superintendents' Association has released figures which show that one in ten of its members is being investigated for criminal or disciplinary charges.

Nationwide, more than 100 superintendents are suspended from duty or working under a cloud of suspicion.

None are suspended in Thames Valley, although the force declined to comment on the numbers under investigation.

Chief Supt Parry Chief Supt Ralph Perry, pictured, of Thames Valley Police's professional standards department, said: "It is force policy not to comment on individual cases or to speculate on the number of officers under investigation, but, at present, I am able to confirm that there are no superintendents suspended in Thames Valley.

"The current debate has been led by the Superintendents' Association and is designed to highlight some of the acute pressures currently being experienced by senior managers in the police service.

"Thames Valley Police recognise these pressures but also recognise that the police service is a public service which must be held accountable at all levels."

A spokesman for the PSA said that as many as one in five superintendents in some forces was being investigated by other police officers for criminal or disciplinary matters - compared with just one per cent of the population being investigated by the police at any given time.

She said the increase in complaints was largely due to the unbearable strain on superintendents, many of whom were in "high pressure jobs".