POLICE chiefs were shamed as “shocking” figures revealed arrests have halved in the past decade – to fewer than 700,000 a year.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper demanded the Government show “meaningful leadership” as the figures stoked fresh fears over ‘lawless Britain’.

Official figures revealed there were 698,737 people arrested in the year to March across 43 forces in England and Wales.

It marks an eight per cent fall in 2016-2017. But it’s half the 1.4million recorded in 2007-2008.

The Home Office was reduced to saying the shock drop in arrests was partly down to more people offering themselves up at police stations.

Last year a watchdog report suggested the sharp fall in arrests could also be linked to “resourcing pressures”. The Sun sparked a backlash last year by revealing 21 on-duty police on Humberside riding the dodgems at a local fair.

Ms Cooper - chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) – stormed: “These are shocking figures.

“Arrests have almost halved over the last 10 years and fallen by 8 per cent in the last year alone. Arrests are going down at exactly the same time as serious crimes are increasing at an alarming rate.

“We are urging the Home Office to show meaningful leadership, and calling on the Government to prioritise policing in the Budget and Spending Review.

“If they don’t, we fear there will be dire consequences for public safety and criminal justice.”

The new figures come a day after the Home Affairs Select Committee said policing risked becoming “irrelevant” because of cuts to staff and low detection rates. They show that over a third of arrests in 2017-2018 were for violence against the person. The nest most common category was theft.

But there were also falls in both stop and search activity and roadside breath tests. There were just 325,887 breath tests carried out last year – down 15 per cent and the lowest number on record since 2002.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Last year, the police made nearly 700,000 arrests across England and Wales.

“However, arrest is just one of the powers police have to tackle crime.

“Arrest figures do not capture trends such as an increase in voluntary attendance at police stations and a greater use of other outcomes, such as community resolutions.”