DORSET Police are one of the most accident-prone forces in the country, regularly forking out thousands of pounds in compensation for car crashes.

Statistics show the force has paid out more than £500,000 for road accidents involving police vehicles in the last 10 years.

The average payout of around £50,000 a year is the second highest of comparable rural services nationwide, behind North Wales Police.

The figures show the amount of compensation paid by police forces across the country after smashes topped £10 million last year. There were 15,000 crashes involving police vehicles in 2006 - and the number of accidents has risen by 14 per cent since 2000.

Dorset Police came out as the second most accident-prone service out of 25 police authorities that held compensation records.

Only police forces without significant urban areas were included in the statistics, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dorset Police have paid out £503,126.97 in compensation for car crashes since 1997 - an average of £50,313 a year. Only North Wales Police, which annually forks out £70,393 on average, was ahead of the county force in the findings. The next closest comparable force was Suffolk Police, with an annual average payout of £38,444.

Dorset County Council network traffic safety team leader Rob Smith said he believes the county's rural network of roads played a big part.

Around 74 per cent of fatal collisions in the county occur on rural roads where higher speeds and bends are commonplace.

He said: "This is not something we were aware of. But Suffolk is very similar to us so I think it might be down to that."

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Dorset Police have a total of some 420 vehicles in their fleet and their total mileage is 6.8 million miles a year - the equivalent of 18,000 miles a day. The force places a strong emphasis on high standards of driving with officers being reminded of the importance of safety at all times while driving.

"Following collisions involving police vehicles, Dorset Police paid compensation or legal costs related to the handling of eight personal injury claims during the period 2005 to 2006. During the period 2004 to 2005, Dorset Police paid compensation or legal costs related to the handling of five personal injury claims."