It’s crime and no punishment: West Midlands Police take no action on three quarters of recorded crimes

And in almost six out of 10 cases officers fail to even identify a suspect, according to official data from West Midlands Police.

The figures show that WMP is lagging behind when it comes to detection rates, with other forces in the country proving far better when it comes to identifying suspects.

Conservative MP Eddie Hughes said that victims were being let down and added: "The disparity between the performance of forces proves that this can't just be about money."

• Express & Star comment: No excuses please, get on with it!

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said a lack of resources was having a negative impact on the force's ability to fight crime.

An investigation by the Express & Star shows that in the four Black Country boroughs 86,194 crimes were reported to police between December 2016 and November 2017.

But in 65,490 of cases (75.98 per cent) the force took no further action, while 58.6 per cent of reports saw no suspect being identified by officers.

In Dudley police took no further action when dealing with more than four out of every five recorded crimes (81.41 per cent), and failed to establish the identity of a suspect 63.32 per cent of the time.

Sandwell's 'no action' rate was 79.29 per cent, with 61 per cent of reported crimes involving no suspect being identified.

Meanwhile in Walsall officers took no action in 78.5 per cent of cases (16,521 of 21,152), with 60.78 per cent ending without the identification of a suspect.

The situation was slightly better in Wolverhampton, where police took action on 35.27 per cent of 20,426 crimes. However, no suspect was identified in 49.37 per cent of all reported crimes in the city.

Other forces posted far lower 'no suspect' figures. In West Mercia it was 45 per cent, while the figure for Staffordshire Police was 41 per cent.

Across the country 4.2 million crimes were recorded by police forces over the same period, with suspects identified in 48 per cent of cases.

Walsall North MP Mr Hughes said he plans to write to West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson requesting a 'detailed explanation' of the performance of the region's force.

"Police forces across the country are receiving funding at comparative levels, yet it appears to be the case that some are performing far better than others.

"This simply should not be the case and the result is that the victims of crime are being let down.

"The PCC needs to explain the disparity in performance between West Midlands Police and other forces and identify what action he is planning to take to improve the situation."

Labour PCC Mr Jamieson said: "Crime is going up and funding for police forces has fallen massively. As well as emerging threats like cyber crime, we’ve seen a huge rise in vehicle thefts and other serious crimes.

"I am doing all I can to drive efficiencies and keep officers on the street where people want them, but ultimately West Midlands Police still has fewer resources to fight crime than it did previously.

"West Midlands Police are targeting prolific offenders and organised criminal gangs who cause the most misery. It is an increasingly tough fight with police funding at the current rate."

The figures also show that across the Black Country less than one per cent of all recorded crime results in an offender being sent to prison.

WMP Assistant Chief Constable Alex Murray, said: “West Midlands Police is making a huge effort to bring down crime with a particular focus at this time of year on burglary which has seen a raft of activity to arrest those suspected of offending.

“Victims of crime are at the heart of what we do so we are able to get the best outcomes for them.

"There are various routes that these outcomes can take from going through the courts to community resolutions, which the victim can be part of.

"Sometimes we fail to capture these outcomes effectively and as such they are not always reflected in the statistics.

“We accept that there is still room for improvement and we’ll continue to strive to do everything we can to protect the public and help those in need."