A record number of police officers voluntarily resigned from Essex Police last year, new figures show.

Home Office figures show 114 full-time police officers voluntarily left Essex Police in the year to March.

That it is up from 82 the year before and the highest number since records began in 2006-07.

Including officers who retired or were fired, a total of 185 left the force last year.

It meant Essex Police had a leavers rate of 5.2 per cent, excluding transfers to other forces.

Across England and Wales, a record high 4,575 full-time officers voluntarily resigned from policing last year - a 33 per cent increase from 3,433 in 2021-22.

Overall, the leavers rate also reached its highest level at 6.6 per cent.

Steve Hartshorn, national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the "worrying" figures echo the concerns thousands of officers have been raising.

He said: "Our members are doing their utmost to protect the public, but demand is continuing to outstrip resources.

"It is paramount the service not only recruits, but retains, which will only be possible if pay and conditions are improved, to give members of the public the service they deserve."

He added: "The focus going forward needs to be on pay restoration."

Speaking in June, Essex Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington also called for improved pay to avoid losing police officers.

He said: “The cost of living is not getting any lower and I hope the police pay review body and the government respond accordingly with a fair and fully funded pay offer for officers and staff.

“Police officers should not be left behind when it comes to pay.

“They must be paid fairly or – to be blunt – we risk losing them.

“It sounds very obvious, but if we don’t retain our talent, we’ll lose it. We’ll lose good people who do great things. And I don’t want that."

In Essex, the force grew from 3,574 officers in 2022 to 3,746 in 2023.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We have delivered a record number of police officers across England and Wales.

"We made it very clear to police forces that this large investment means we expect officer numbers to be maintained and they should have robust plans in place to ensure this.

"Policing is a career like no other and our latest survey of new recruits showed 82 per cent respondents were satisfied with the job and 77 per cent plan to stay in policing for the rest of their careers."