Leaked emails reveal police's £5m earner

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Thames Valley officers were told the shifts had "premium rates" and would suit those with a "raging credit card habit".

Night shifts, thought to be paid at £300 each, would give them time to "read a good book, take up botany or ornithology, study for your sergeant's exam [or] work out the compound interest on a rest day's pay".

The internal emails were sent to officers during Operation Overt, the inquiry into an alleged terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic airliners, and related to a huge search in woods near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

In one, the author, Sergeant David Bald, wrote: "If you're available then please ping me an email - it'll pay off the credit card."

The force said their involvement in the operation cost £8 million, including £4.9 million in overtime.

Thames Valley Police, ranked as the third-worst performing police force in Britain by the Home Office, said the emails were "in poor taste".

A spokesman said: "The emails were unacceptable but do not reflect the attitude of police officers as a whole."