Rishi Sunak’s police escort compared to a scene from NORTH KOREA as officers jog next to motorcade

Police officers were seen jogging alongside Rishi Sunak’s motorcade as he returned to Downing Street over the weekend.

In scenes compared to the security detail afforded to North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, officers ran on foot ahead of police motorbike outriders.

Footage posted online showed them jogging in front of four blacked-out Range Rovers and a people carrier.

This was then followed by a Metropolitan Police vehicle and more jogging officers.

And, if the scene wasn’t quite bizarre enough, police on bicycles were spotted at the very front of the unusual convoy.

One policewoman on a bicycle was filmed confirming it was ‘the Prime Minister’ after being asked by an onlooker who was being escorted down Whitehall.

The jogging police ran in front of four blacked-out Range Rovers and a people carrier along Whitehall near Horse Guards Parade

If the scene wasn’t quite bizarre enough, police on bicycles were spotted at the very front of the unusual convoy

One policewoman on a bicycle was filmed confirming it was ‘the Prime Minister’ after being asked by an onlooker who was being escorted down Whitehall

The video was posted online this weekend when the London Marathon caused a number of road closures in the capital.

Demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion have also recently gathered in Westminster, including Parliament Square, during a four-day protest.

When the footage was posted to social media, viewers were quick to draw comparisons to the running bodyguards who often accompany Mr Kim’s motorcade.

They jog alongside the North Korean leader’s limosuine dressed in suits and are formally known as the Main Office of Adjutants.

They are selected from Korean People’s Army recruits who are fulfilling their national service subscription obligations.

It is said the bodyguards have to be approximately the same height as Mr Kim.

Viewers were quick to draw comparisons to the running bodyguards who often accompany Mr Kim’s motorcade

A Extinction Rebellion flag was spotted among the crowds as London Marathon runners passed through Parliament Square on Sunday

Government sources suggested the unusual escort afforded to the PM was due to the unique circumstances in the capital this weekend, rather than representing a new security policy.

In response to the footage shared on social media, one Twitter user quipped: ‘This escort looks like something out of North Korea but with less fit and fewer good looking bodyguards.

Another added: ‘The difference between North Korea and Rishi Sunak’s regime? About 20 BMI.’

Labour MP Diana Johnson, the chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, wrote: ‘This is quite a spectacle! Never seen so many police officers running like this?’

SNP MP David Linden took aim at Mr Sunak’s reported use of private helicopter to travel between London and his North Yorkshire constituency.

He tweeted: ‘Well, if he can’t take his private helicopter…’

Asked about the footage, the PM’s official spokesman said: ‘Security issues are for the Metropolitan Police rather than us.’

Mr Sunak was pictured meeting with Tory MPs at Chequers, his official country retreat in Buckinghamshire, on Sunday.

The PM – who is understood to have spent part of the weekend liaising over the evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan – hosted a business conference near London’s Kings Cross station this morning.

He is due to meet with new Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf in Westminster this evening.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘We do not discuss matters related to protective security.’