A WINSFORD mum has been left devastated after her dream job in the police force was taken from her before she had even started. 

Katie Freeman, 41, who works in Morrisons in Winsford, was given a September start date and was told to wait for her contract in the post for her new job as a PCSO with Cheshire Police. 

However Katie, who had left her job in the RAF to bring up her kids and was keen to get back doing a job protecting the public, was shocked when she received an email saying she had not got the job and with no explanation to the u-turn. 

The Winsford woman had gone through various drugs tests, DNA tests, background checks, finger print checks, fitness tests, maths and literacy tests, and a job interview, before being told she had the job.

But when she asked for answers for the change of heart she was told she could not be given the job because she had 12 days off sick in the last year. 

Katie said: “I called them and they said it was because I’d had 12 days off sick in the last 12 months and they only allow nine. I’d had time off because I hurt my back at work and I had already explained that in the interview.

“I hurt my back at work because I got moved from the office into the warehouse and obviously with not being used to working in the warehouse I injured my back. I never had any problems with attendance in the past 16 years of working there. 

“It was a waste of my time and their time and cost them money for all the tests and everything we had to do, but they go on about having to cut back to save money. 

“I’m really upset because I really wanted the job. I used to be in the RAF for eight years but I left because I had children. Now they’re older I thought ‘right, it’s my time again’ so I got really excited when they said I got the job as a PCSO.”

Katie was outraged further when she read the Guardian’s report last week that 21 officers in Cheshire Police.

She added: “They have officers with convictions who are still allowed in the force but I can’t get in with a part-time job as a PCSO because I had time off sick. Cheshire Police are absolutely disgraceful. 

“One of the questions in the questionnaire you have to fill out is ‘do you know someone who knows someone with a criminal conviction?’ So it would seem that you can’t get into the police if you know someone who knows somebody else with a conviction but apparently if you’re already in the police and have a conviction yourself, that’s fine.”

A spokesman from Cheshire Police said: "The demand for roles within Cheshire Constabulary is high and the constabulary is open and transparent from the outset about the criteria candidates will have to meet. We provide as much information as possible on the process itself, as well as the requirements such as vetting, employer checks and sickness levels.

"This is provided at workshops and seminars which prospective recruits attend prior to the application process going live.

"An application paper process filters candidates to the next stage of the process, who are assessed on a range of competencies. Those successful at this stage are then invited to interview, after which a conditional offer of employment may be received. This offer clearly states that an application may still be withdrawn from the recruitment process, and is dependent on meeting the main criteria and subject to references and sickness checks."