NOTTS Police paid out £8,000 to a member of staff who tripped over a pile of paper in a corridor and hurt themselves.
The claim is just one of a catalogue made by police staff in the last five years. In total the force has paid out £446,999 to injured officers and civilian staff.
New figures show that, between 2007 and 2012, there were 43 successful claims. Others include:
£16,610 to an officer who was hurt tripping over blankets while catching a criminal.
£18,400 to someone who fell off a chair and injured their back.
£50 to a staff member who fell over debris and ruined their shoes.
£4,450 to someone who slipped on an empty bottle in a car park.
The figures were published by the force in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
They show the force has shelled out £182,564 for incidents that happened in 2007, but the number of claims appears to be falling – with only six lodged in 2012 compared with 18 in 2007.
The document does not show the extent of the injuries in each case.
Sherwood Conservative MP Mark Spencer said: "We have lost the plot in terms of what we think it is acceptable to claim for."
But Phil Matthews, chairman of the Notts branch of the Police Federation, defended the right of officers to make claims. "There are more to all of these claims than are in the document," he said. "You do not get thousands of pounds because you have tripped over something – you get it because you have suffered a serious injury."
Malcolm Turner, police deputy head of legal services said: "While some incidents may apparently seem to be trivial, the consequences which might flow from them can, on occasion, be very significant."
