Two thousand police officers have been off work due to mental health issues in the last two and a half years according to figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.

The party said it works out at 110,000 working days lost and illustrates the scale of pressures facing frontline officers.

The data from freedom of information requests whose 2,200 officers had time off due to mental health reasons and also 68 officers took early retirement in the same period on mental health grounds.

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The Conservatives said that cuts to police budgets have had an impact on officers.

Maurice Golden, Conservative MSP, said: “It’s deeply concerning, but not entirely surprising, that such a high proportion of police officers are suffering from mental health difficulties.

“Police Scotland staff are under immense strain, not least because the number of divisional officers has been cut by around 800 since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister.

“In many cases, officers are having to work in crumbling stations and with inadequate equipment too.

“Yet, astonishingly, in this month’s budget, the SNP chose to cut the police capital spending budget, ignoring Scottish Conservatives calls for a £36.5 million increase in spending.

“These factors are bound to take a toll on police officers, so it’s little wonder there’s a mental-health crisis among staff.

“Unless the SNP finally agree to provide Police Scotland with the resources they need - in terms of staff numbers, conditions and equipment, the number of officers suffering from mental health problems is only likely to increase.”

The Tories said since 2014 the number of divisional officers had dropped from 12,964 to 12,168. according to Police Scotland figures.