Police a rarer sight as almost half report no sign of a bobby on the beat

 Nearly half the public in England and Wales have not seen a bobby on the beat in the past year and sightings have fallen by 25 per cent in two years.

Four out of five of those surveyed for the Inspector of Constabulary said a regular uniformed police presence was important, but fewer than one in five thought they had one in their neighbourhood.

The proportion who had not seen a uniformed officer in their area was 44 per cent, up from 41 per cent in 2016 and 36 per cent in 2015. The amount saying they had not seen uniformed personnel in a vehicle in the past year was even lower, at 12 per cent.

The findings come as police chiefs say they are struggling with cuts in funding.

A report detailing the findings of the survey of 12,662 people carried out for HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services noted that public feelings around police visibility “can be strong and have a significant bearing on broader attitudes to policing and local safety”.

It said: “The proportion who are satisfied with the level of local uniformed police presence is far lower than the proportion who are dissatisfied (24 per cent v 41 per cent).”

The inspectorate has previously raised concerns over the impacts of an “erosion” of neighbourhood policing.

But the research did find a marked increase in confidence in the police to provide protection during a terrorist attack. More than half (55 per cent) said that they would be “very” or “fairly” confident in police dealing with such an incident, compared with 46 per cent in 2016.

The increase probably reflected a shift in public perception after the police response to 2017 terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the report said.

Overall, just over half were satisfied with the police, similar to last year when the percentage was 52 per cent.