A police force has refused a regional journalist’s Freedom of Information request – a full three years after it was submitted.

Bristol Post chief reporter Conor Gogarty has finally received a response to a request he sent to Gloucestershire Constabulary in December 2017.

Conor submitted the FoI while working as a reporter for the Gloucestershire Echo after being denied information by the force’s press office about an undercover knife crime operation it was running.

But, in its belated response, the force refused to confirm or deny whether the information he requested was held.

Conor, pictured, explained how the three-year saga had played out in a series of Twitter posts.

He wrote: “Back in December 2017, when I was a reporter for the Gloucestershire Echo, I went to a knife crime event where a police officer gave a talk mentioning he’d been running undercover stings on local shops – sending in underage teens to see whether the store would sell them knives.

“That’s an interesting story, I thought. So I asked the police press office for some details about the operation, and the shops which had fallen foul of it.

“They said they’d rather not give those details. So I put in an FoI on 5 December 2017, hoping for a response within the 20 working day limit. I got one on 20 November 2020, having forgotten all about it.”

In the response, which has been seen by HTFP, the force cited the “public interest in safeguarding national security” for its refusal to provide further information.

It said: “The Police Service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve.

“The reduction and detection of crime is of paramount importance and the police service will not divulge whether information is or is not held if to do so would compromise law enforcement.

“Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing operations and providing assurance that the Police Service is appropriately and effectively allocating resources, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police investigations and operations.

“It is therefore our opinion that for these issues the balancing test for confirming or denying that information is held is not made out.”

Posting on Twitter, Conor went on to criticise the force’s “long-running issues with transparency”.

He cited local democracy reporter Leigh Boobyer’s successful fight last year to reveal a scandal involving its staff “inappropriately” selling part-worn police vehicle tyres online for personal financial gain.

Gloucestershire Constabulary was subsequently admonished by the Information Commissioner’s Office over its failure to respond properly to FoI requests sent by Leigh in relation to his investigation into the matter.

Conor added: “Do better, Gloucestershire Constabulary – transparency is important.”

HTFP has approached Gloucestershire Constabulary for a comment.

Is this the slowest FoI response in the history of the Act or have you waited longer for one?! Let us know at [email protected] or via Twitter at @journalism_news.