Police officers are quitting their jobs at one of the highest rates since records began.
Resignations have soared by almost 50 per cent since Labour left office in 2010, Home Office data reveals.
One in eight are so demoralised they want to leave within two years.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library shows 2,156 officers quit last year. In the seven years since 2010, more than 11,670 have chosen to go.
The flood of departures is blamed on real-terms pay cuts, combined with increasing workloads.
The Police Federation says officers have racked up a backlog of up to 250,000 rest days, as cancelled days off and compulsory overtime are used to plug the shortfall in numbers.
The union also warned of plunging morale and damage to officers’ mental health, with 62 per cent of its members saying their workload is too high.
The figures show 30 out of 43 forces have suffered a fall in the number of officers and PCSOs working in local policing since 2010.
Shadow Policing Minister Louise Haigh said: “The Tories have spent eight years denigrating the police.
“Officers are so sick and tired of being undervalued, underpaid and overworked that they are flooding out of the service. Instead of continuing to ignore the mounting evidence, the Tories need to face up to the crisis they have created.” The latest survey of more than 30,000 rank-and-file officers by the Police Federation found 72 per cent felt workloads had risen in the last year. Just under two thirds said their workload had been too high.
And 60 per cent said their own personal morale was low – cited as a key factor in the 12.3 per cent who wanted to leave in the next two years.