A police chief constable said his staff and officers had "a duty" to protect privileged information amid an inquiry into a leak over a crime commissioner's trips in a chauffeur-driven limousine.

Two police workers and a member of the public were arrested after details leaked to local press, revealed Cumbria's new police and crime commissioner, Richard Rhodes, the Conservative candidate elected last November, took two evening trips to events in a hired chauffeur-driven Mercedes at a cost of around £700.

The police civilian workers, a man aged 47 and a woman aged 50, were held on April 10 as part of an internal investigation. All three have been bailed until May 24 pending further inquiries.

Speaking of the probe, the constabulary's temporary chief constable Bernard Lawson said: "It is my duty to investigate any alleged unlawful disclosure of information from the constabulary."

Mr Rhodes said he had no "involvement or input" with how the police had dealt with the matter.