Northern Ireland's new Chief Constable has warned that his officers are being stifled by red tape and excessive bureaucracy.

Matt Baggott chose his first appearance before the NI Policing Board to stress the need to challenge the form-filling culture which diverted policemen and women from helping communities on the frontline.

Sir Hugh Orde's successor said there was a tendency within modern policing to judge performance by the amount of paperwork officers produced.

“I think bureaucracy can be a very helpful comfort blanket,” said the former Leicestershire chief.

“You can show success by filling in a form well, that doesn't necessarily mean you are doing the things that matter.”

His assessment comes only weeks after a leaked internal report on the PSNI claimed that the service is being choked with forms and paperwork, with 61% of officers' time spent inside stations rather than on the streets.

The Strategic Review 2009 document said a bureaucratic “compliance-based culture” within the PSNI had blunted its ability to serve the public

Warning of the “tyranny of too much red tape”, Mr Baggott told board members he would strive to give his officers more time and discretion to do their job.

He said some level of bureaucracy was necessary to make the service accountable, but added that when it became pervasive it could hinder the police.

“When the bureaucracy takes you away from having the space and the time to deal with victims appropriately then the bureaucracy must be wrong,” he said.

“So I think you've got to give my colleagues — I have already seen their professionalism — a lot more time and space to invest in relationships and understand the needs of families and neighbourhoods and I'm certainly committed to that.”