A record number of police officers have been sacked in England and Wales amid efforts to restore public faith in policing following a series of scandals.

A record 593 police officers were fired and banned from returning to the job in the year to March 31, figures released by the College of Policing showed on Tuesday.

Figures, which cover 43 police forces in England and Wales, marked a more than 50 percent rise from the previous year.

The dismissals include 74 officers who were sacked for sexual offences and misconduct and 18 who were fired for possessing child exploitation material.

The most common causes for dismissal were dishonesty and discriminatory behaviour, accounting for 125 and 71 cases, respectively.

The rise In sackings comes as police chiefs in the United Kingdom try to regain public trust in the wake of the 2021 abduction and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving officer in London’s Metropolitan Police.

Last year, another Metropolitan Police officer, David Carrick, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison for committing dozens of rapes and sexual offences against 12 women.

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding, the director of operational standards at the College of Policing, said the conduct of the dismissed officers was “hugely disappointing”.

“However, these figures show that we have effective, robust procedures in place to identify and deal with these officers swiftly, and to prevent them from holding future roles within the police,” Harding said.

“These figures show that there is nowhere to hide for people who fail to meet the high standards set across our police forces.” (Al Jazeera)

•Armed British Transport Police officers patrol the Eurostar platforms in London [Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images/AFP]