A DECISION is due in a High Court case aimed at preventing a specialist police force who protect nuclear materials in the UK becoming "out of step" with the vast majority of other officers.

On Wednesday, the Civil Nuclear Police Federation (CNPF) will learn the result of a challenge over a new scheme, starting in April, which could make them work until they are 65.

The CNPF, which has 1,250 members, wants a declaration that the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) are "members of a police force" for the purposes of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 and their pension age must be 60 like most other officers.

Martin Westgate QC has told Mrs Justice Nicola Davies that the action, which is contested by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA), came down to a point of statutory construction.

"If the CNPA is correct (that the relevant section of the Act does not apply to CNC officers), that places members of the CNC out of step with the vast majority of police officers."

The operational demands on officers in other territorial forces were much more variable and there were likely to be posts they could move to if they did not meet the highest standards.

But that did not apply to members of the CNC, who were intended to be a 100% firearms capability force and had to maintain the highest standards.

Distinguishing between members of the CNC and other territorial forces was unnecessary and produced an unreasonable result, he told the judge in London.

CNPF chief executive Nigel Dennis has said that it was almost physically impossible for a CNC officer to serve beyond 60.

"What seems not to be understood is that our members are fully-trained authorised firearms officers.

"The high standards of physical fitness and weapon proficiency are mandatory throughout a career in the CNC and are increasingly difficult to maintain as officers age.

"This makes our force unique within UK policing as in other forces firearms officers can relinquish their weapon authorisation at any time and all UK officers can retire at 60, a decision made by the present Prime Minister Theresa May when home secretary in 2011.

"As a police force, the CNC is the fittest body in the UK because of our role in protecting nuclear assets and our more recently-acquired role of protecting the wider public against terrorist outrages."

"It makes no sense that we should be saddled through inappropriate legislation with a retirement age which we have little or no hope of reaching.

"Neither can I believe that the public will feel protected if eventually we have aggressively-armed police officers in their mid-60s being deployed against terrorists."