Shock figures reveal policing divide between West Midlands and London

There is only one police officer for every 440 people in the region, despite it being the biggest outside London and having a soaring crime rate.

The West Midlands force is much more stretched than counterparts at the Metropolitan Police, where there are 290 people per officer.

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The new data reinforces the view of West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson, who has criticised the lack of resources for police in the region.

The region's most senior officer has said his force is being pushed to breaking points by persistent cuts. Officer numbers have plummeted from around 8,500 to 6,500 since 2010.

Mr Thompson offered a blunt assessment of the state of the force earlier in the year when he admitted the 'reality' was police could not always respond to pleas for help.

The figures showed there is a huge gulf between the London force and others in England. The region's Police Federation chairman Richard Cooke said the figures showed the West Midlands was the 'poor relation' to the capital.

He also accused the Government of neglecting public services because they are focused solely on Brexit.

Across the Midlands

Other forces in the Midlands are also being stretched to the limit.

Staffordshire is one of the worst served areas by police in the country, as shock new figures revealed the huge toll cuts had taken on the under-strain force.

There is only one county in England where the population is more poorly represented by its police force. New research showed there is one officer for every 708 people in Staffordshire.

Only Wiltshire's force is more stretched with each officer responsible for 721 people, when officer numbers are compared to the population.

West Mercia Police, which covers Worcestershire and Shropshire, is also in the bottom 10 for officers to population with 645 per person.

'Reality' of policing

Mr Thompson said in July: "We have got to provide a service for domestic violence victims, investigate homicides, deal with gangs, deal with gun crime, deal with modern day slavery.

"That list has got bigger over the last few years. At the same time the spread of crime and demand on the service is going up because local authorities and other services have been reduced and so more vulnerable people are coming to the police.

"We are absolutely at a point where that is not a sustainable position for the police any more. So on occasions the service the public get has changed.

"We may be dealing with them over the phone when they would like to see us. I am sorry about that but that is the reality of where policing is now."

'More and more with less and less'

Shadow policing minister Louise Haigh said that communities were being left unprotected because the Government has cut police forces for the last eight years in a row.

She said: "With police numbers at record lows it's little wonder that were seeing violent and sexual crimes soaring year on year whilst conviction rates plummet.

"This is the only Government in modern history that has cut officer numbers every year it has been in office and the crime we are now seeing is on their heads."

A Home Office spokesman said decisions about how police deploy their resources, including the size of the workforce, were operational matters for their chief constables.

The Police Federation of England and Wales' vice-chair Che Donald said officers were having to do "more and more with less and less" due to funding cuts since 2010.

He added: "Forces are facing increasingly limited resources and tough decisions have to be made about what is prioritised. It is unrealistic for the Government to think this is sustainable.

"Even the Home Affairs Select Committee has backed us in calling for an urgent injection of funds into the police service - or face 'dire consequences'."