The Police Federation said the force rejected up to 186 white male applicants in favour of female and ethnic minorities.

Its selection process denied access to some of the strongest candidates, the federation said.

A force spokesman has said all successful applicants underwent the "same rigorous selection process".

When the recruitment process opened this summer, 242 white men were put forward - 40% of the total - with the rest from under-represented groups, including women, people from minority ethnic groups and disabled men and women.

'Unfair'

The force confirmed the majority of the rejected applications were from white males.

We are always trying to improve our record in the area of diversity Paul Hazel, Avon and Somerset Police

Head of personnel and training, Paul Hazel, said: "The majority of those deselected were white men because the force's workforce is over-represented by white men.

"We are always trying to improve our record in the area of diversity and will continue to try more accurately to reflect the cultural diversity of all our communities and meet the objectives set by the Home Office."

But chairman of the Avon and Somerset branch of the Police Federation, Andy Palfreman said: "Our view is that they are denying access to the recruitment process to some very strong candidates purely on the grounds of their gender and ethnicity. It's unfair and may be illegal."

He said the force was right to try to encourage ethnic diversity, but this was not the best way to achieve it.

"What you can't do is say you are not considering an application simply because it happens to be from a white male because they may have been the best candidate in the world," said Mr Palfreman.

The issue has been raised with the Chief Constable.