THE number of new police officers hired across the West Mercia force area have surged nearly nine per cent in one year - the best rate in the UK.

New data from the Home Office has revealed how in the 12-month period up to last September an extra 99 officers were recruited, taking the total to 2,014.

The figure is a rise of 8.9 per cent, with police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore hailing the force for "leading the way".

It comes despite the force cutting £37 million from spending, most of which was helped along by merging back office functions with Warwickshire.

Mr Longmore said: "This is excellent news, I'm very pleased to see West Mercia leading the way here.

"This shows the real benefit of our alliance with Warwickshire and how efficient we have been in managing the force's resources in recent years.

"It has been a painful period of cuts for forces everywhere in recent years.

"We have had to save almost £37 million here in West Mercia, but we have maintained a real focus on the things that matter to people."

The figures come just after the West Mercia Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, warned of the numbers being 385 down since 2009.

Nationally 18,000 front line coppers have gone since then, leading to criticism not enough is being done to protect communities.

Mr Longmore said: "More of our resources are now going straight into frontline policing, and for every officer that leaves the force we now make sure a new one recruited and in place right behind them.

"That was not the situation a few years ago."

But, it comes alongside an increase in waiting times for emergencies.

Councillor John Campion, the Conservative's PCC candidate, has criticised the response times creeping up.

It now takes an average of 10.7 minutes to reach an emergency call, a rise of just over a minute since March 2013.

He said: "When someone calls the police in a time of emergency, then seconds can matter.

"This worrying poor performance shows the commissioner, who has supported closing police bases, has lost his grip on our force and is letting down our local community that needs the police in times of emergency."

Mr Longmore says the national standard is to get there within 20 minutes, which the force meets for 91 per cent of emergencies.

A new report on the data says the response times will be monitored closely over the coming months.

Mr Longmore is quitting his role in the spring.