I HAD been preparing for a few weeks ahead of the official police fitness test.

Mornings of yoghurt, honey and fruit combined with a few tasty slices of toast with whole, crunchy peanut butter seemed to be fuelling me with an abundance of energy each day.

That, along with playing football three times a week and ditching the cigarettes, left me feeling more than prepared.

I arrived at Sussex Police HQ, albeit 20 minutes late due to infuriating traffic around Lewes, and began a stretching session with eight coppers and a friendly instructor.

A quick swig of water later and I was about to take the bleep test – the fitness test the police take once a year to ensure they are capable of catching criminals when they try to do a runner, among other things.

A recent report by the College of Policing praised Sussex Police for its level of fitness, with 98.3% of 2,093 participants doing enough to earn a ‘pass’ grade in the last year. Bearing that in mind, to say I was feeling confident was an understatement. After all, the last time I did one of these was in high school – reaching an impressive level 14 thanks to a diet of Drumstick lollies and tuna crunch baguettes from the school canteen.

The test involves 15 minutes of timed, 15m shuttle runs. Participants must reach the other side of the gym before the bleep sounds, with the intensity gradually increasing as the test goes on.

If officers fail to reach the other side of the gym by the time a bleep sounds, they are given a warning. Three strikes and you are out.

I took my place on the start line, shook my legs neurotically as if I was about to kick off a European cup tie, and shot from one end of the room to the other. This continued for about ten minutes until we reached the required level of 5.4. Everyone passed and, to be honest, I broke more of a sweat when trying to navigate Lewes’s ridiculous one-way system but, remember, I am supposed to be a sprightly 25-year-old.

We gave ourselves a pat on the back and finished with a warm-down stretching session. Fellow runner PC Alistair Knight told me the test was, until recently, only taken by new recruits. But now it’s a once-a-year effort to ensure officers don’t let the doughnuts take their toll. He said: “I didn’t personally prepare for it but I know some colleagues who put in training beforehand.

“It’s at the standard where as long as you’re reasonably healthy and you put in some effort then you’ll be fine.

“On the job it’s not quite like it is on TV shows, where officers are on foot-chases all the time, but if you find yourself in that position it’s important you are able to give a good account of yourself.”

Out of the 35 officers who failed the Sussex Police fitness test from April 2013 to March 31, 29 were police constables, five were sergeants and one was an inspector.

No chief inspectors, superintendents or chief superintendents failed.