SENIOR cops are spending up to four hours a day driving instead of tackling crime because of forces sharing workloads.

Health and wellbeing is suffering for 61 per cent of those with cross-force roles, a survey found.

The cops covered areas of 100 miles and used different laptops, multiple IDs and email accounts for different forces.

Many neighbouring forces have amalgamated crime-fighting, traffic and emergency response after being encouraged by the Government to cut costs. But the Superintendents’ Association survey found there is “significant concern that collaborations are forcing police to work inefficiently”.

Its president, Ch Supt Gavin Thomas, will tell Home Secretary Sajid Javid at its annual conference this week, that policing is in “crisis.”

He believes reform is likely to fail due to a long-term vision void.