West Midlands Police spent more than £3.3million asking for help from consultancy firms in two years, new figures reveal.

The force used the cash for services ranging from leg-al advice and building surveys to first aid and dog training.

But the spending has come under fire from the Taypayers’ Alliance, which said the money would be better spent helping to put more officers on the beat.

Figures just released show the force spent £2,067,016 in 2008/09 and that outlay dropped to £1,308,185 in 2009/10.

The statistics were made oublic under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

Some of the money was spent on a domestic abuse conference, courtroom training for officers and upgrading IT systems.

Fiona McEvoy of the West Midlands Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “In these straitened times taxpayers would prefer to see their money spent on equipment and frontline policing. For too long our public services have been relying heavily on expensive consultants and now pressure has increased on police budgets it’s important the West Midlands force prioritise the things the public really value.”

Chief Insp Matt Markham said: “Modern-day policing is a very complex business which requires hugely varied skills and specialist knowledge, some of which cannot be supplied by our own staff.

“Consultants hired on a short-term basis are the most efficient way of giving officers the skills to provide the best service to the public by ensuring they are trained in specialist fields.

“Training packages provided last year included sessions on bereavement and family liaison, serious sexual offences and child abuse.

“But nearly half of the money spent on consultants was for building-related technical, legal and medical advice which cannot be provided within the force.”

West Mercia Police, which covers Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire, spent £174,378.20 employing  consultants in 2009/10. Money went on accountancy , IT, proofreading and on a multimedia presentation of court evidence.