THOUSANDS of people suffering from mental health problems are being locked up by police because appropriate care is unavailable, according to police research.

Figures published today reveal that people in England and Wales were held in police custody on a total of 4,537 occasions under section 136 of the Mental Health Act between 2014 and 2015. The National Police Chiefs Council lead for mental health and policing Commander Christine Jones labelled the findings “unacceptable.”

“People experiencing a mental health crisis are not criminals. Nor are police officers and staff medical professionals.

“Those who are urgently unwell, whether physically or mentally, should be taken to a health-based setting to receive the right care and support.

“It’s unacceptable for anyone of any age to end up in a police cell because the appropriate mental health services are not available.”

Home Secretary Theresa May announced last month that £15 million would be freed up to fund alternatives. 

But disability rights activists argued that continuous cuts to local services are the real problem. Disabled People Against Cuts spokeswoman Linda Burnip told the Star: “We welcome moves to stop people with mental health conditions being unnecessarily criminalised and inappropriately detained in police custody. 

“But the slashing of community-based mental health services mean this initiative is set up to fail.”

The Home Office admitted that despite a 30 per cent decline in cases of people with mental health issues held in police cells, “there is still a long way to go to improve outcomes.” A spokesman added: “The Home Secretary is clear that the right place for a person suffering a mental health crisis is a bed, not a police cell, and the right people to look after them are medically trained professionals, not police officers.”

Section 136 gives police forces the power to move someone deemed to have a mental disorder to a “place of safety”, which often results in an arrest.

The number of times Section 136 was used by police fell by 10 per cent in the last year to just over 23,000.Detentions of mental health sufferers can last for up to 72 hours.