Police in Dorset spend almost half of their time dealing with issues relating to mental health - and officers are “buckling under the pressure”, the county’s police and crime commissioner has said.

Speaking on Wednesday at the first of four ‘ask the experts’ events, Martyn Underhill said vulnerable people were at the heart of the new police and crime plan.

During six-weeks of public consultation, 2,036 Dorset residents shared their views on policing priorities with 90 per cent of respondents said that 'protecting people at risk of harm' should be a key focus and top priority for Dorset Police.

Those considered to be at risk of harm include people who have a need for care and support, are experiencing or are at risk of abuse or neglect, and are unable to protect themselves from these risks.

During the event held at the Dorset Rape Crisis Support Centre in Poole, expert panellists gave inputs to partner organisations around some of the areas that policing must focus on in order to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.

This included the work of street triage services, developing an approach to mental health issues, the role of Independent Custody Visitors and ongoing work to provide support to men, women and children who have been raped or sexually assaulted.

PCC Martyn Underhill said: "Protecting the most vulnerable in our communities will always be a core policing duty and our event today has demonstrated just some of the ways in which this will be addressed.

"In the past, policing has failed to grasp the implications of vulnerability and how transient it is. You could be vulnerable for the whole of your life or you could be vulnerable for a month and just require temporary support.

"You could be vulnerable aged two or 102. Policing needs to be responsive to ensure that with other agencies, we effectively deal with that."

The services providing support to victims of sexual violence and abuse in Dorset include the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (The Shores) and the Dorset Rape Crisis (DRCSC).

Since 2011, DRCSC has run a dedicated helpline and face-to-face counselling service, offering emotional and practical support to male and female survivors.

Mr Underhill added: "Under this pillar, I have made a number of specific manifesto commitments, around mental health, safeguarding and crime reporting to name a few. Work is already underway.

Within 100 days of taking office, additional resources were allocated to the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) to enhance our ability to safeguard children who are at risk.

"We will soon be recruiting for Independent Custody Visitors who make unannounced visits to custody to scrutinise conditions and I am continuing to campaign for people in mental health crisis to receive appropriate care in appropriate settings.

"Throughout my current term of office, I will continue to work with partners to reduce that number even further."

Visit dorsetpoliceplan.com for updates on progress being made.