Detectives fear their rock-bottom status has left British policing failing crime victims “all or most of the time."

Overworked and overwhelmed ranks of CIDs in England and Wales admit being unable to “provide a proper service”, a survey has revealed.

Now one of their leaders has accused Theresa May of “destroying the police service” with low pay, low morale and the stress of too much work deterring young officers from becoming detectives.

Karen Stephens, secretary of the Police Federation's National Detective Forum, said that the situation had reached crisis point with forces – worn down by the impact of budget cuts – struggling to cope with minimal numbers.

The federation’s detectives’ lead laid the blame firmly at the feet of Mrs May, whose tenure as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 before becoming PM was the longest in more than 70 years, for overseeing the slashing of police budgets and the loss of 20,000 officers.

The UK once boasted the “best service in the world" but Theresa May has "destroyed the police service in this country," Ms Stephens blasted. 

The 16,500 detectives in England is 5,000 short of what it should be, she argued, and the results of a recent federation survey “make shocking reading” with almost three-quarters of CID ranks admitting they “fail to provide a proper service to crime victims all or most of the time”.

Ms Stephens added: “Results from our National Detectives Survey show that detectives feel overworked and overwhelmed with morale at rock bottom and a staggering number taking sickness absence caused by exacerbation at work.

“Worn down by the impact of budget cuts and an increased work load, 25 per cent of detectives also revealed they suffer mental health problems.

“Stress is a huge problem – detectives will have a work load of 15 to 20 or more cases at any time. When you are spinning that many plates, you know that at some point one of them is going to be dropped.

“Being a detective was always a sought after desirable role however things have changed and not for the better.

“Forces are struggling to cope with minimal numbers and we cannot ignore that there are serious shortcomings that need to be addressed so that our detectives are not crumbling under extreme pressures and can provide the very best service to victims and make being a detective a desirable profession again.”

The federation forum has launched its own ‘Detectives in Crisis’ awareness campaign, designed to highlight the “serious demand and capacity imbalance in this high pressure role”.

Ms Stephens argued: “We want forces, chief officers, police and crime commissioners, the College of Policing and the government to look at the demands on detective policing and make changes to better support the welfare of my colleagues.”

Earlier this year, the federation’s detectives’ lead warned of the effect on the service: “All I keep hearing are the same words and phrases over and over again . . .’pressure’, ‘undervalued’, ‘stress’, ‘struggling’, ‘frustrated’ and most worrying of all that word ‘crisis’.”

Consequently, she said: “The dream job has turned into a nightmare for some with 80 per cent of officers who responded to our survey saying that their work has negatively affected their mental health.”

The police federation is taking legal action against the government for "cheating" officers out of a three per cent pay rise recommended by an independent review body.

Last week former Shadow Policing Minister Jack Dromey blamed an “all-consuming Brexit” for the government postponing its announcement of next year’s round of police funding.

The latest criticism follows a stand-off earlier this week in the Commons when Policing Minister Nick Hurd deflected questions on police pay and pensions from 16 different MPs – by repeatedly telling them to wait for the “imminent” funding settlement.

Police chiefs nationally are threatening to sue the government unless it relieves the new financial burden placed on forces by the government’s decision on police pensions.

Police Oracle has contacted the Home Office for comment.