PLANS to overhaul rules governing police pursuits risk making it even harder to hold officers to account, campaigners have warned.

The proposals, published today, follow leading officers’ complaints that police can be prosecuted for dangerous or careless driving during high-speed chases.

Instead, greater responsibility will be placed on suspects for their own decision to drive dangerously.

Haringey Independent Stop and Search Monitoring Group chairman Ken Hinds said it was important to provide safeguards and transparency on how rules are applied.

“When you give police such powers, there is no accountability to how they will find ways to use it. There is that tendency,” he told the Star.

“They have to have transparency and scrutiny and they have to say in what parameters they can use the law.”

Mr Hinds also warned that the proposals would have a negative effect on community relations.

“It doesn't bode well for us when we are trying to create and improve community and police relations,” he said.

“Apprehending criminals and perpetrators is important, but not at all costs. Young people are already fearful of police as it stands, and these are innocent people. They are likely to run away.”

Police Federation of England and Wales roads policing lead Tim Rogers welcomed the announcement, pointing out that the organisation had been calling for reforms for years.

Under the proposals, police drivers would be subject to a separate test when determining whether they should face action after incidents, such as “hard stops,” where trained drivers have to make contact with a suspect vehicle.

A hard stop was used in the infamous case of Mark Duggan, who was chased by officers and shot after leaving a minicab in Tottenham Hale, north London.

The August 2011 killing sparked mass riots across England. The officers involved have not faced any punishment.