Two Bradford policemen are back at work after they were cleared of allegations of conspiring to steal and pervert the course of justice.

PCs Paul Crabtree and Craig Blake had denied accusations that they conspired to steal copies of parking tickets to avoid paying fixed penalty fines.

But the charges have been dropped because of lack of evidence and the officers, who were suspended in November last year, have now been reinstated.

Crabtree, 23, and Blake, 29, who are based in the Bradford South division, originally appeared in Court in Bradford but the case was transferred to Leeds Crown Court because they were serving Bradford officers.

At an initial appearance before Judge Roger Ibbotson a provisional trial date was fixed for September 20 this year. The court was told the trial was expected to last four or five days and police officers, some very senior, would be among the witnesses for both the prosecution and defence.

The officers appeared in court again in June for a plea and directions hearing at which they both pleaded not guilty to two charges.

The charges alleged they conspired to pervert the course of justice between September 19 and 21 last year by agreeing to remove copies of parking tickets from the traffic wardens' office at Bradford Central police station in order to avoid payment of a fixed penalty, and that they conspired to steal copies of two parking tickets between the same dates.

But all charges were dropped at a last-minute hearing before Recorder Wood at Leeds Crown Court on August 5.

A court spokesman said: "The prosecution offered no evidence on both charges against both defendants on August 5.

"The court received a phone call on August 4 asking for the case to be added to the list for mention. It must have been done at the last minute because it did not show on the official list."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said the case had been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

She added: "There has been a disciplinary investigation. The matter has been dealt with internally and the officers have been reinstated. They are back at work."

A spokesman for the CPS said: "When deciding whether a case can go ahead, Crown Prosecutors have to be satisfied that there is enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge.

"After careful consideration of the evidence in this case, and subsequent discussions with our legal Counsel, it was decided that there was no case to answer."

Tom McGhie, West Yorkshire chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said the case had been discontinued through lack of evidence.

He said: "We are pleased it has been resolved and they are back at work. It has been a long time for them.

"It is always a difficult time when you are suspended and the longer you are suspended the harder it is to get back to work, but they have managed to do that."

Mr McGhie said the Federation was concerned about the length of time the police and CPS took to investigate police officers before coming to a decision and he had raised their concerns with the force on a number of occasions.