THREE hundred more police officers and PCSOs were assaulted last year compared to 2017, new figures have shown.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information revealed attacks on officers rose from 1,700 in 2017 to 2,032 a year later.

The assaults included officers being punched, spat at, kicked, bitten, shoved or injured with a weapon.

West Yorkshire Police Federation has blasted those who injure officers and expressed concern about the rise in attacks.

Brian Booth, chairman of the federation, said: "Assaults on our members remain the focus for West Yorkshire Police Federation.

"We continue to highlight the scale of the issue through our social media and are monitoring whether the new Protect the protectors legislation is making a difference.

"Some of our members have taken part in a new Channel 5 TV production called “Police Code Zero: Officers under attack” which again highlights this issue and gives the public an insight to the difficulties front line officers face.

"It angers me that my colleagues are being treated like punch bags and if we see no benefit from the new sentencing guidelines, we will again actively campaign with the Government to get heavier sentences.

"Hopefully this will finally deter those who assault our officers."

One of the worst cases of assaulting police officers came in January 2018 when Ellie Burns, of Roundwood Glen, Ravenscliffe, when she assaulted six officers in two separate incidents.

She spat at police and threatened to “bite an officer’s nose off” when they arrived at a petrol stations where she had stolen a packet of cigarettes.

On January 24, police were called to reports of two women fighting, and when officers tried to get into the property Burns told them to “f**k off”.

She elbowed an officer in the chest and attempted to headbutt another, and while being restrained on a bed spat in an officer’s face.

While the figures do not cover 2019, weekly figures are regularly released by the West Yorkshire Police Federation and in the last full week of April, 38 West Yorkshire police officers and one member of police staff were attacked on duty.

As the federation pointed out, that equates to five of their members being attacked as they go about their duty every single day. They called the number of attacks "unacceptable".

Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), said: "The safety and protection of our officers and staff is of the upmost importance and I gave my full backing to the successful ‘Protect the Protectors’ campaign.

"The campaign resulted in new legislation being introduced late last year which established tougher sentences for those found guilty of assaulting emergency service workers.

"I want to be very clear in that a single attack on a police officer or emergency service worker is one too many.

"This is an issue that I will continue to monitor as well as calling on the Government to increase resources across policing in general which I am sure would also help to reduce offences."