STAR WARS - JEDI POLICE ON THE BEAT IN SCOTLAND'S LARGEST FORCE

JEDI POLICE ON THE BEAT IN SCOTLAND'S LARGEST FORCE

The force is strong with officers in Scotland, it has emerged, with eight officers listing their official religion as Jedi.

Strathclyde police, Scotland's largest force, confirmed eight of its serving officers as well as two civilian staff claimed to follow the faith on voluntary diversity films.

Conceived by Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Jedi faith is a fictional monastic peacekeeping order who follow 'the Force', a life power that binds the universe together and has a 'dark side', which corrupts people through exploiting negative emotions such as anger and fear.

Strathclyde police was the only UK force to admit employing Jedi officers, after Jane's Police Review obtained a Freedom of Information request.

"The Force appears to be strong in Strathclyde Police with their Jedi police officers and staff," said Jane's Police Review editor Chris Herbert.

"Far from living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, some members of the noble Jedi order have now chosen Glasgow and its surrounding streets as their home."

While Jedi Knights such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda use the positive powers of the force, Darth Vader falls to the 'dark side' out of anger at the deaths of his mother and wife.

Around 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales, with around 14,000 following suit in Scotland, though the Office for National Statistics did not recognise the faith officially.