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Nine police officers were assaulted by women over the weekend, Dyfed-Powys Police said.

Officers across the force were punched, kicked, bitten and spat at in five incidents, leading to the arrests of women aged between 14 and 61 and assault charges against two of them.

One special constable was bitten while still on her probation period.

And two officers were kicked, punched and spat at after finding a missing teenager, police said.

The officers were responding to domestic assaults, allegations of harassment, a disturbance and a missing person.

Chief Constable Mark Collins said: "Policing, by its very nature, is a challenging occupation, and officers do expect to be put in difficult situations.

"However, it is completely unacceptable that they should be subject to assaults while they are carrying out their duties - particularly when they are assaulted by the very people they are trying to help.

"Nine officers being assaulted as they respond to five incidents is shocking - and this doesn't include the verbal abuse and near misses they face daily.

"We take these matters very seriously. For every officer who is assaulted, a plan is put in place to support them, whether they are able to remain on duty or not."