The big questions: Are police cats a thing?

• Watch Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderly answer whether the force uses covert feline operatives.

Northamptonshire's Chief Constable has addressed a burning question that many people didn't know they needed answering: does the force use police cats?

The question came from 9 year old Aiden, who sent the query in as part of an online session ran by the chief Constable Nick Adderly and Superintendent, Elliot Fosket.

Last year, the force decided that during the pandemic they needed a better way to keep in communicate with the public to answer concerns and questions about what the police were doing.

The top brass decided to hold weekly sessions on Facebook live for three months.

In a series of posts on Twitter, the force said it had received hundreds of questions and the sessions had been viewed 242,600 times.

Nick Adderly fronted a special session for children who were worried about the pandemic which also included some guest appearances by police dogs.

He had made it clear to staff that the questions shouldn't be vetted and he wouldn't shy away from difficult subjects.

The sessions can still be viewed for anyone who missed them.