Police officers are wasting hours every day driving suspects across the county.

The closure of police cells in Watford means hundreds of people arrested in south west Hertfordshire have to be driven to Hatfield.

Officers say it can take four hours to get there and complete the paperwork, eating into time they can spend on the street.

If a suspect is bailed in Hatfield the police then have to drive them back.

Watford’s custody suite, which was closed while officers were trained on a new computer system, was due to reopen this month. But on Wednesday night, police chiefs closed it for good.

One police officer, who asked not to be named, said: “At any one time, there are maybe 18 police officers in Watford and ten in Rickmansworth. What happens if there is a critical incident? Back-up is at least 40 minutes away.

"We do not think this decision makes sense because of the amount of time it takes us to take a prisoner from Watford or Rickmansworth to Hatfield.

“There has been a lot of friction because if we bail someone at Hatfield, we are being told we have to give them a lift back as well.”

In almost two months, 161 people were arrested in Watford and taken to Hatfield. 59 people were booked into cells in Hatfield after being arrested in Three Rivers. Twelve people were arrested in Bushey and detained in Hatfield.

The police officer added: “We have got to the point where what we are cutting is meat and bone and this is damaging the way we can police.

“It also impacts officer safety. If there is a big arrest where a car is stopped and three people are arrested, that is six officers going up to Hatfield. And if you are the last person at a station, and something happens, help is a long way away.”

Hertfordshire Police Federation chairman Neal Alston wrote to Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd warning against the closure of the suite.

He wrote: “Whilst the number of frontline officers working in Watford, Dacorum and Three Rivers won’t reduce, we are concerned their ability to respond to incidents will be impacted because of travelling to Hatfield or Stevenage with detainees.

“The impact of this additional travelling time is estimated by us to be a minimum of one additional hour for two officers per detainee.

“Given the current level of arrests dealt with by Watford custody, this equates to an additional 28 and a half hours of officer time spent travelling each and every day. This is additional time that officers are not available to respond to calls from the public.”

The new IT system – Athena - will give frontline officers access to investigations, intelligence and information on defendants from other forces. The Watford Observer understands it is not being sent live on January 1, as was planned by the force.

Seven forces in the Eastern region were set to use the system, with records and intelligence being shared between them.

The force has spent £1,063,722 on the Watford custody suite in the last five years, figures have revealed.

This created four new cells, but it was considered "inappropriate" to spend more money on it.

Spokesman for Hertfordshire Constabulary Rachel Hyde said the move will save the force money.

She said: "In making this decision, we have considered the impact on arrest rates, travel time to custody and identifying spikes in our demand."

A contract has been set up with a taxi company to take prisoners home from Hatfield, freeing officers up to return to their area.

Ms Hyde said Athena was set up as a result of the murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. She said police were criticised because forces' computer systems did not link up, meaning important intelligence on Ian Huntley - who was later convicted of their murders - was missed.