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An award-winning policeman has blasted Theresa May after he revealed Tory cuts forced him to leave his job.

Insp Damian O'Reilly was named Britain's community policeman of the year - but says he quit his dream role pounding Manchester's streets after he could no longer stomach the government's changes.

He hit out at the Home Secretary face-to-face today in front of a huge audience at the Police Federation's annual conference in Bournemouth.

"I worked in inner-city Manchester for 15 years," he said. "I felt passionate about what I was doing.

"In 2012 I had to leave. I couldn't take it any more because the changes that have been imposed have caused community policing to collapse.

(Image: MEN)

"That's the reality ma'am. Intelligence has dried up. There aren't local officers.

"They don't know what's happening. They're all reactive. There's no proactive policing locally."

Nicknamed Mr Gorton after the beat he pounded, the former top officer won his award in 2010 at a glitzy ceremony hosted by Jane's Police Review and was later awarded an MBE.

But he left his community role out of frustration and moved to a new job with Greater Manchester Police's team at Manchester Airport.

Now he warns cutting community police will harm early steps to stop teenagers being radicalised put them back on the right track.

He told the Home Secretary: "We run the risk here of letting communities down, putting officers at risk and ultimately risking national security.

"I'd ask you to seriously reconsider the budget and the level of cuts over the next 5 years."

The Home Secretary hit back at his claims, saying there are now more community officers nationally than there were in 2010 - even if there aren't in some individual forces.

And she accused the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, of 'scaremongering' and declared: "This crying wolf has to stop".

Mrs May said: "Yes there are fewer officers overall. But despite the predictions of the Federation, crime is down by more than a quarter since 2010.

"This weekend the Federation warned that spending reductions mean we'll be forced to adopt a paramilitary style of policing.

"This kind of scaremongering does nobody any good. It doesn't serve you, it doesn't serve the officers you represent and it doesn't serve the public."

The Police Federation claims three quarters of forces have had to cut or merge their community policing - in many cases so they can carry on answering 999 calls.

And nationwide 17,000 frontline police officers have been lost since 2010.

Mrs May unveiled new measures to stop mentally ill people ending up in police cells and said she'd do everything she could to cut the strain on officers.

She added: "As crime changes, policing needs to change. But that link with the public is an important link and will always be an important link."

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But she faced a hostile response from dozens of people in the packed hall.

Metropolitan Police Constable Jay Devine told her: "Are you taking a risk with public safety and ours?

"I'd love to have an iPad and a Taser would be a nice idea. But I'd rather have a colleague."

Another officer said: "It's not scaremongering, it's fact. Don't talk down to us. My dad's nearest police officer is 25 miles away."

Essex PC Phil Suarez complained about outdated computer systems, saying: "I deal with CPS on a daily basis and they can't accept a file bigger than 1MB.

"I can't show violent footage to a CPS lawyer for a very quick decision to ensure we're protecting our victims."

And one officer said: "I've never known a time in the last 20 years when police morale has been so low".

Federation chairman Steve White told Mrs May: "The current situation is deadly serious. So you need to listen. You seriously need to listen.

"And do not make the mistake of dismissing what you hear, saying 'here we go again, the Police Federation moaning and scaremongering'.

"If the public aren't scared, perhaps they would be if they knew just how few cops were on the night shift while they slept last night."