Number of arrests halved in eight years

 Increasing numbers of criminals are getting away “scot-free”, it has been claimed, as the number of police arrests has fallen by an average of 50 per cent over the last eight years.

Information obtained from 30 of 43 police forces in England and Wales under Freedom of Information laws found 658,113 fewer arrests were made in 2016 than in 2008 – a drop of 48 per cent – while recorded crime fell only 15 per cent.

Lord Paddick, the former Scotland Yard chief who last week stepped down as the Liberal Democrats’ Home Affairs spokesman, said: “These figures prove some criminals are getting away scot-free, when in the past they would have been arrested.”

They come as Theresa May is under scrutiny over her role in the decision to axe more than 20,000 police and close scores of police stations while she was Home Secretary.

The biggest fall in arrests – 63 per cent – was in Hampshire, compared with a decline in the overall crime rate of 19 per cent.