AN officer filmed saying he would ‘make something up’ in order to arrest a man has been suspended, police have confirmed.

The officer, who is thought to work for the Darwen, Blackburn and Hyndburn taskforce, was filmed getting into a row with the man and squaring up to him in Accrington on Friday afternoon.

The officer can be heard saying: “Do you want me to show you the definition of harassment?

“Give me the keys. Give me the keys and sit in the car and shut up.

“If you want to step to me then fine I will lock you up.”

The man, who is from Accrington and had been out in his car on Friday afternoon buying a quad bike for his step-son before being pulled over by police, can then be heard saying, “But I’ve done nothing wrong”, to which the officer, whose collar number is 3539, says: “I will make something up.

“Public order, squaring up to a police officer, shall I do that?

“Who they going to believe, me or you?”

The officer then repeated the line but this time raised his voice to a shout.

Following wide criticism after the video was released on social media on Friday, Chief Constable Andy Rhodes released a statement on Saturday apologising for the incident, saying the “language and behaviour from one officer which were completely unacceptable”. He also said the man involved had also received an apology from the police.

However, the force has now confirmed that following an initial review by its professional standards department, the officer involved has now been suspended.

The force has also referred the incident to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) A police spokesman said: “Further to our initial statement about the video footage widely circulating of an incident in Accrington involving one of our officers and a member of the public, we can now provide an update.

“We absolutely recognise the impact this footage has had on public confidence and following an initial review by our Professional Standards Department the officer involved has today been suspended from duty.

“We have also taken the decision to voluntarily refer the matter to the IOPC.

“We hope these actions go some way to reassuring the public how seriously we are treating this matter. We will be speaking to the man in the footage to keep him fully informed regarding the actions we are taking.”