Disgruntled Police are staging a sick-out to show their anger at the delay over their ongoing pay negotiations.

Uniformed officers from three stations began the action on Tuesday night and yesterday. They are expected to continue the protest today.

And Police bosses have drafted in new recruits to bolster the ranks which are already depleted by a manpower shortage.

Yesterday, the Police Association accused the Government labour relations department of dragging its heels over bringing the rejected pay deal to arbitration.

Association chairman Sgt. Mike Jackman said there was frustration among officers that the negotiations had not moved on, especially since there was a small difference between the two parties.

"We will not support anything that puts the safety of the public at risk, but we understand the concerns the membership has,'' he said.

"I hope it doesn't carry on. I have no idea why the Government is dragging its heels. We are willing to sit down and thrash this thing out, but we haven't got any movement from Government.'' The action is not expected to disrupt the May 24 holiday.

Police were unable to give actual numbers off work, but it is understood the sick-out involves uniformed staff from St. George's, Somerset and Hamilton stations.

In the meantime, new recruits have been drafted in to plug the gaps, but are not providing operational support. They are involved in directing traffic or administration duties.

A Police spokesman said: "We have had an unusually high number of officers who have called in sick. We have made arrangements to cover the manpower shortage and we are coping admirably with a slight discrepancy in manpower.

"At this stage the service to the public is in no way hindered. We have no information to suggest that this is anything other than a case of officers not reporting to work through ill health.'' The sick-out could upset many officers who are already under pressure because of staff shortages and feel the action is premature as the pay dispute is set to go to arbitration.

But one officer said: "We can't strike by law and to a certain extent we do feel shafted by being put in a position without a contract.'' Sgt. Jackman said the delay was angering many officers, since the two parties are not far apart in the terms of the pay negotiation.

The Government has offered a 2.98 basic pay increase, plus allowances of between six and ten percent to be phased in over four years.

The Association rejected the deal and backed the findings of the Mowbray report into the force, which recommended the same premiums but backdated -- along with additional leave -- to 1997 when the last contract expired.

But Sgt. Jackman said the difference between the two amounted to around $300,000 -- which he said was minimal compared to the $90,000 being saved each month from the wages of the 30 officers which the force is missing.

"That is where a lot of frustration comes from,'' he said. "There isn't a really big gap between us.'' And the dispute has come at a time when the force is pushing the boat out with TV advertising to lure Bermudians into the service.

Sgt. Jackman said the pay negotiations could jeopardise recruitment at a time when the service needed as many people as possible.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox could not be reached for comment last night.