CRIMINALS are escaping arrest because police are delayed in getting to crime scenes in patrol cars that do not have sirens, officers have warned.

Police "fear letting down the public" because they are being sent to urgent calls in the ill-equipped cars, which have been ordered as part of cost cutting measures, a union has warned.

The West Midlands Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said they are being hampered by the lack of proper resources.

The Force has a fleet of 109 of the Vauxhall Corsa patrol cars which were originally intended for neighbourhood policing and non-urgent incidents.

But the Federation said they are being used in emergencies due to staff cuts.

It said there have been more than 100 reports in the past 12 months of police attending urgent incidents in the West Midlands in cars without the "blues and twos".

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