Four Maidstone police officers have been sacked after a corruption investigation.

The male and female officers, who range in rank from detective constable up to sergeant, were all arrested in November 2012 after a probe into manipulating figures.

They were accused of getting criminals to confess to crimes they had not committed in order to improve the force's statistics.

A fifth person arrested in connection with the inquiry has been cleared of all involvement.

The four who have been dismissed for gross misconduct all deny any wrongdoing and have appealed the decision, which followed an internal investigation supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

In August, the Crown Prosecution Service - which investigated the criminal aspect of the case with a team of special case prosecutors - concluded there was no case to answer against any of the officers, meaning no criminal charges were brought.

But a Kent Police spokesman said: "Following the conclusion of internal disciplinary procedures, four officers were found to have committed gross misconduct and dismissed from duty on Friday, January 31."

Ian Pointon, chairman of Kent Police Federation, confirmed the sackings.

"Kent Police Federation has been supporting the officers and will continue to do so until this is concluded," he added.

Following the arrests in 2012, Kent police commissioner Ann Barnes ordered an independent report.

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In one of its most damaging conclusions, it said there had been an "institutional bias" in Kent towards chasing numeric targets rather than tackling crimes.

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