Police left with £1m bill after terror attacks

The cash-strapped force spent £414,000 responding to the Parsons Green tube station bombing last month, and around £600,000 in the aftermath of the Manchester attack in May, which killed 22 people.

The figures were revealed by WMP Chief Constable Dave Thompson at a meeting of the Strategic Policing and Crime Board.

He warned that the additional strain on the force's resources meant the public received a reduced neighbourhood policing service from WMP whenever the terror threat was raised to its highest level.

It was also revealed that WMP is struggling to deal with a backlog of 2,500 unresolved calls, sparked mainly by increased demand and staff shortages,

Outlining what he described as the 'serious consequential issues' of the UK's increased terror threat, Mr Thompson said there were 'financial and resource implications' whenever the threat level is stepped up to critical.

He said the force put in place 'a considerable operation' on the night of the Parsons Green attack. "Whilst the public are reassured to see an increase in policing at such times, it is important to recognise that there are no new police," he added.

"It is simply that the force is working longer hours. There was a diversion of around £250,000 in on duty resources that are diverted to deliver the high profile policing effect.

"That is a significant level of redeployment of the force across a weekend." He added that an additional cost in excess of £150,000 was incurred for vehicles and overtime.

The Manchester attack cost WMP £610,000, he said. Mr Thompson said the implications included a 'significant' increase in the number of open call logs, and added: "Members of the public don't receive as prompt a service from us, and the amount of pro-active activity devoted against crime becomes quite challenging.

"My concern is that having resourced operations when the threat level is critical twice this year, we need to be mindful that this may be something that becomes a more regular occurrence in terms of the operational impact on policing."

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Cann said the force had faced a backlog of up to 2,000 open call logs at times during the weekend of the Parsons Green attack.

"Our demand did not go up hugely, but our ability to respond to the demand we had downgraded significantly," he said, adding that the force was currently 'struggling to get on top of' a backlog of 2,500 open logs.

Meanwhile the force has warned that continuing budget cuts had drastically increased the likelihood of neighbourhood officers with insufficient training being deployed to deal with major crimes when the terror threat rises.

A report to the board says that neighbourhood officers are taken from local communities, and said they do not always have the training to respond to crime in the same way.

It says: "There are also some identified skills gaps, for example, neighbourhood officers not all being trained to the same driving levels as force response officers which would hamper their ability to provide this function.”

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said the report proves that the Government 'is failing in its duty to give the police the funding they need to protect the public'.

He said: "In the West Midlands it costs us £100,000 a day whilst at the critical terror threat level and for some days after.

"Officers doing longer shifts then need to be rested, meaning the return to normal neighbourhood policing duties can take up to a week.

"Real terms increases in funding are required to enable police forces to carry on their crucial work, to tackle ever more complicated crimes and threats and ensure neighbourhood policing is provided for our communities."