The RSPCA is facing a backlash from senior police officers who do not want the charity to be the main body which pursues hunts or pet owners through the courts, on the eve of major review of how animal cruelty cases are prosecuted.

The National Police Chiefs Council – which represents chief constables – said in a submission to a Parliamentary committee that animal welfare prosecutions should be carried out by “a single agency, preferably a statutory body funded by Government”.

The news is a further blow to the charity after its trustees were told by the charity regulator last month to hire auditors to conduct an inquiry into its organisation and structure.

In February the RSPCA also banned its inspectors from rehoming animals unless vets have personally seen evidence of suffering, in what critics said a "check on over-zealous behaviour" by its inspectors.

Decisions to prosecute so-called “red coat” hunting cases will be made by lawyers at the Crown Prosecution Service, rather than the charity, after criticism over the way it has pursued hunts through the courts.

The changes were made as part of a major overhaul of how the charity investigates animal cruelty after years of criticism about the behaviour of one of the world’s oldest animal welfare charities.