A HAMPSHIRE police officer has been billed for thousands of pounds worth of tax after his employers paid for him to undergo brain surgery.

The officer, who has not been identified by Hampshire police, was diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier this year.

When he was told he would have to wait eight months for surgery, the force stepped in and paid for him to have the operation privately, at a cost of £12,000.

The tumour was benign and the operation was completed successfully.

But the policeman has now been presented with a tax bill of more than £2,000.

At last Tuesday's Hampshire Police Federation annual open meeting in Winchester, Chief Constable Paul Kern-aghan declared it a "public disgrace" that the Inland Revenue was treating the operation as a taxable benefit.

Mr Kernaghan said: "Brain surgery is not performed on a whim, nor is it a cosmetic procedure - it is a procedure no-one undertakes lightly.

"The NHS should have treated the officer much more quickly. It failed to do so and we were able to step in.

"Yet the officer is now being penalised. That is just plain wrong.

"Surely the Chancellor should provide a list of operations, the first item of which would be brain surgery, which would be exempt from taxation."

A spokesman from the Inland Revenue said: "The police force gave the officer the money, and he chose to spend it on an operation, but he could have spent it on anything.

"The fact that money was given in connection with employment makes it a taxable benefit.

"There are well-established rules for taxation. However, it is important to look at each individual case.

"If the chief constable wants to contact us, we will talk to him."