BLACK and ethnic minority officers make up 1.4 per cent of West Mercia's police force.

The latest figures are published as one of the country's senior police officers warns the Government must impose recruitment quotas in order to make forces fully representative of modern Britain.

Last year, a 10-year Home Office target for seven per cent of officers to be from black and ethnic minority communities by 2009 had to be dropped because it was deemed unrealistic.

Now, it has been replaced with a target based on ensuring new recruits reflect the racial make-up of each force.

This week Cheshire's Chief Constable Peter Fahy warned a Home Affairs Select Committee that it would take 17 years to achieve the desired make-up of officers if "special measures" were not adopted.

West Mercia Constabulary has revealed the force has 34 black and ethnic minority officers out of a total of 2,434. It hopes to reach its two per cent target by 2009.

A force spokeswoman said: "The nature of policing means we interact with people from different backgrounds everyday. It is important that we understand and are sensitive to individuals' differences so we can provide an appropriately tailored policing service.

"To do this, we need to employ a workforce that is reflective of our communities. The work of the positive action team involves the development of initiatives around the recruitment, retention and progression of people from certain groups that may be under-represented within the West Mercia Constabulary.

"The team provides information, encouragement and support to these people as they consider their career opportunities with the police service.

"Recently, the positive action team visited a local mosque in Worcester to promote the recruitment message. "

Following the committee meeting, Mr Fahy said there was a "strong operational case" for recruiting more officers from black and ethnic minority communities, insisting it was not just about political correctness.

"Clearly, if we are going to be held to account on particular targets based on representation, the only way we can meet that is through affirmative action - to take into account somebody's ethnic background." He said this type of "affirmative action" would include a change in employment law, but admitted that there was little political appetite for such a move.