Police officers may be given vouchers for aromatherapy and counselling in stress packs to combat high sickness rates.

Essex Police are developing strategies to combat the amount of time taken off sick through stress.

Stress anxiety and depression among police officers and support staff cost Essex £1.3 million in 10,000 working days lost last year.

The personnel section is considering a plan to send 'stress packs' to all employees who go off sick.

The packs could contain advice and vouchers for stress therapies like acupuncture and counselling.

There will also be training for managers to recognise symptoms of stress in their employees, how to approach them about the problem and how to deal with it.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said: "It is in the pipeline for this year but is still in its embryonic stages at the moment."

Police said the cost of the scheme is not yet known but believe the benefits will greatly outweigh the outlay.

A report by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary highlighted the county's sickness rate and asked the force to review it.

The HMI report revealed that while other counties brought down their sickness rate, it had increased in Essex by 3.6 days per officer a year.

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