Complaints about Thames Valley Police officers are down 17 per cent on this time last year.

Between April 1 and July 31, the force received 194 allegations of misconduct from members of the public, compared to 234 in the same period in 2000.

The biggest reduction was in complaints of incivility from officers, which fell from 45 last year to 26 this year.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul West, speaking to a meeting of the Thames Valley Police Authority's complaints committee yesterday, said: "This is a very encouraging reduction of complaints for this year. There has been a good downturn in the number recorded."

He said the drop in allegations of incivility could be put down to training and increased awareness in officers.

Complaints of unlawful arrest or detention fell from 20 to 12 and allegations of racist behaviour from 12 to nine.

The only types of complaints to see a significant rise are oppressive conduct, which is up from 18 to 22, and breach of codes governing searching of premises - up from two to five.

The meeting was also told that during June and July, the force's professional standards department investigated 82 cases of complaint, in which just two were substantiated.