Almost 8,000 people have applied to join the new Police Service of Northern Ireland, it emerged tonight.
Applications for the new police service first appeared on February 23rd and last month the Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan confirmed that around 20,000 had asked for forms.
With the closing date for applications the end of March, the applications for the first wave of recruits are now complete.
Out of the 8,000 applicants, the first 240 recruits will be chosen and will start their training in September. They will begin duties on the streets next spring.
A further 480 recruits will join the new service next year. Almost 500 officers, among them some of the most senior figures in the force have already left under severance arrangements negotiated under the Patten Report.
Sir Ronnie said at the weekend that once the Patten recommendations were fully in place, he would reconsider his own position within the force.
Last month, the Chief Constable disclosed he was confident that requirements for equal recruiting between Catholics and Protestants in the force will be met.
"We are receiving requests for application forms at the rate of something like 700 a day," he said.
"We are now actually up to 20,000. Now, I'm not going to count any chickens before they are hatched, but with such an overwhelming response I'm confident we can meet the levels of officers we need and we can meet them on a 50-50 basis."
PA