A shortage of experienced detectives means violent crimes in West Yorkshire are taking longer to investigate.

The claim came today from the Police Federation which believes victims of serious crimes - like assaults, woundings, non-stranger rapes and robberies - are not being kept informed about the progress of investigations.

It also says that inexperienced uniformed officers are having to take on important CID roles in serious cases.

Tom McGhie, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said 80 per cent of recruits to the newly-formed North-East Regional Counter Terrorism Unit, taken from eight police forces, had come from West Yorkshire, putting extra pressure on CID departments.

But a West Yorkshire police spokesman denied there was a lack of experienced detectives, but said the job was nevertheless a very demanding one.

Mr McGhie, however, said: "Pressure is being put on individual officers. Because there are fewer officers with experience to deal with serious crimes their workloads are high. Investigations do not get done as quickly as we would like and that has an effect on keeping victims updated.

"The Homicide and Major Enquiry Team deals with all the murders and stranger rapes. It is offences just below that level of seriousness, like assaults, woundings, robberies and non-stranger rapes, where detective sergeants are carrying big workloads.

"It has an effect on morale. They feel they are being run ragged from pillar to post. They want to do a good job for the public but sometimes feel they are letting down the public because they do not have the time to deal with them."

Mr McGhie added: "We have raised these issues at a senior level with the force on a number of occasions. They are well aware of the concerns we have had about the lack of experience in CID departments and they are looking to address it. Unfortunately it takes time."

But the Federation chairman maintained West Yorkshire Police has been performing well in recent years. He said: "We have increased the number of people arrested and offences brought to justice."

Mr McGhie was speaking in the wake of research by the Federation which found that front-line detective offices across England and Wales are being hampered by a nationwide staffing crisis.

The six-month-long review of nine forces, not including West Yorkshire, found CID offices had been depleted of experienced detectives who had been re-deployed to specialist units or lost to stress or illness.

Mr McGhie said other demands had been placed on the force in recent times, including secondment to the Counter Terrorism Unit.

Mr McGhie said performance targets, which come down from Government, were being reduced in numbers, allowing the force to concentrate more on quality of service issues.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "The job of a detective in West Yorkshire is a demanding one, as it is anywhere else in the country.

"We have got some excellent detectives in West Yorkshire and we have got a very good detective officer strength.

"Detectives who are involved in local policing have all the requisite skills needed to deal with what they face on a daily basis. There is no lack of experience at divisions."

'Our workload has shot up in recent years'

Chris Binns, a detective in the Bradford district for 30 years until his retirement earlier this year, said his workload had increased dramatically in the latter stages of his career.

He said major incidents, like the Bradford riots and the London terrorist bombings, which took senior detectives off day-to-day inquiries, left CID departments short-staffed, but West Yorkshire Police seemed to manage its resources better than most forces.

"We seemed to manage in West Yorkshire - but only just," said the former detective inspector.

Mr Binns, 49, worked for many years in CID, moving to the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team towards the end of his career.

"Around the time of the Millennium I was just covering the Bradford district, but by the time I retired I was covering the whole of the western half of West Yorkshire, out to Huddersfield," he said.

"Serious jobs came in at such a rate we didn't have time to finish one job before we were on to the next one.

"Miraculously, we somehow managed to pull it together.

"We used to get a murder once in three or four months. Then it suddenly went to every other week, or every week, somewhere in West Yorkshire."

Mr Binns said that within months of HMET being formed, half of its staff were seconded to investigate the London bombings.

"I ended up working really long hours because you had to do to fit everything in. I was due to retire, and while I could have carried on working until I was 60, there was no incentive for me to stay. Why work six days a week, 12 to 18 hours a day, when you don't need to?"