A CIVILIAN member of staff at Avon and Somerset Police was allowed to drive a force car fitted with blue emergency lights, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

There is no suggestion chief financial officer used the vehicle in an emergency response – which they were not trained to do anyway.

Avon and Somerset is one of seven constabularies in England admitting it allowed civilian staff to use the vehicles.

A tax expert claimed the recipients could save thousands of pounds each year as emergency vehicles are treated differently by HM Revenue and Customs.

But the forces said the vehicles were part of their wider fleet, and denied they were provided for tax reasons.