POLICE officers need to be paid fairly amid a 'recruitment and retention crisis', the chair of Cumbria Police Federation has said.

Ed Russell, whose group represents rank-and-file officers in the county, said experienced officers were leaving policing.

He backed a call for police officers to be given a pay rise at or above the rate of inflation.

Mr Russell said: "To be blunt on that point, policing is in a recruitment and retention crisis; experienced officers are leaving the force and this attrition of knowledge can only have negative consequences."

He was speaking after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley gave evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body and called for police pay to increase.

Sir Mark said officers had seen a 16 per cent real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years and that the high cost of living was placing an even bigger strain on officers, as well as hampering recruitment.

Mr Russell said:  “Sir Mark Rowley has been a police officer since 1987 and in this time he has seen nine successive Prime Ministers (some in power for longer than others!).

"I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that he has a considerable breadth of experience in policing.

“He has made a very unambiguous statement about police pay and, perhaps more importantly, about the ‘backward trend in recruitment’.

“I wholeheartedly support Sir Mark’s call for change in relation to police pay. We must attract, recruit and retain the very best the country has to offer, and to do so requires investment to give the public the service they deserve, and that all serving officers wish to provide.”

Nationally, more than 9,000 officers resigned in the year ending March 2023, the Police Federation said - the highest number of leavers in a financial year since comparable records began.

Police received a sevn per cent pay rise in September. Home Office proposals for a 2024 pay award are to be decided.

Setting out the plans, the Home Office said: "The Government recognises the critical work carried out by police officers on a daily basis. We remain committed to supporting the police to fulfil their essential role in cutting crime and keeping people safe."