Anna said: “We have had severe cuts to our policing budgets resulting in 20,000 fewer officers, whilst at the time demand has increased.

“This has had a detrimental effect on frontline services. Officers have not let the public down, the Government has.

“Forces have had to prioritise incidents they attend and investigate purely due to lack of number. My colleagues have done their utmost to maintain the service to victims and keep the public safe.”

See the full HMICFRS report here https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/…/noticeable-diffe…/

In the report, HMIC Matt Parr said the public had "rumbled" that the police do not have the capacity to deal with common crimes, such as burglaries or car crime, and have given up reporting incidents to police.

"I think particularly in the volume crime area the public has rumbled that the police capacity to deal with this is extremely limited."

Mr Parr added: "There are some strikingly low figures about car crime resolution, meaning most of the public simply give up reporting it because the chances of anything positive happening are so slim."

"The country is just short of investigators," he said. "There's lots of forces that haven't got enough detectives - therefore, very often, crimes aren't allocated to the right people to investigate."