Weren't the Derbyshire police amongst the worst during the miner's strike?

Most emphatically not; the 'imported' police from the south with whom they augmented the local force were the ones. They also removed the numbers from their uniforms while they were here, which speaks for itself. There were rumours that they were actually troops dressed as police, but I'm not so sure about that. The local police were, by and large, sympathetic to the miners' cause as it was virtually impossible around here for anyone not to be either related to, be acquainted with, or live close to miners. It was hushed up, but one night at our local nick there was an almighty punch-up between the local coppers and the 'imports' which kept the A&E dept. busy all night. Believe me, you had to be on the doorstep to ever hear anything like the real truth about the miners' strike.