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Tory Policing Minister Victoria Atkins has admitted she doesn't know how many police officers are in service in the country.

It came just hours after Home Secretary Amber Rudd herself admitted she hadn't seen a document leaked last night which linked police cuts to violent crime.

Home Office statistics show the number of police officers in England and Wales fell from 143,734 in March 2010 to 123,142 in March 2017.

Asked about the figure by LBC's Nick Ferrari, Ms Atkins said: "It's, er, er, you're testing me, Nick.

"I'm so sorry. It's, um, um, I'm not going to hazard a guess, I'm just going to front up and say I'm so sorry, that number has slipped my mind. I do apologise."

Mr Ferrari said: "You are a Home Office Minister, Minister."

"Wouldn't it be a good idea to have the figures?"

Ms Atkins said: "It would be."

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Earlier, Ms Rudd claimed she has never seen a document prepared by her own department about the rise in violent crime, on the day she launched the Government's violent crime strategy.

The paper prepared by officials as part of preparations for the new strategy acknowledged police cuts had "likely contributed" to the rise in serious violence.

But speaking to the BBC, the Home Secretary said she had never seen it.

She said there are "a lot of documents that go round the Home Office", when pressed on the papers leaked to the Guardian.

(Image: AFP)

(Image: LBC)

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I haven't seen this document.

"There are a lot of documents that go round the Home Office. We do a lot of work in this area.

"Of course violent crime is a priority. I think that you do a disservice to the communities and the families by making this a political tit-for-tat about police numbers."

Ms Rudd also said she had not met families of the victims of the wave of violence this year.