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A police officer has told of being left near 'destitute' after her sick pay entitlement ran out.

The Manchester officer found herself broke, living in a damp house and forced to feed her daughter through food banks.

Helen, a serving police officer for Greater Manchester Police with ten years under her belt, said she never expected to find herself in such a desperate position.

"The first time I had to use the food bank I was devastated", Helen, who grew up in Salford, told the Manchester Evening News .

"I was in a professional occupation, a so called family who look after you, but here I was, so broke and desperately needing to put food on the table for my daughter.

"I used to make sure my daughter would eat and I would eat anything she left over, or eat a pack of cheap biscuits for a meal."

(Image: Helen Elizabeth)

At the time, Helen was on zero pay because her sick pay entitlement had run out - but as far as she is concerned she was left destitute with a young child while suffering severe mental health problems.

She says that in the run-up to taking sick leave she was plagued by panic attacks, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts as she struggled to balance working hours and looking after her daughter.

"I couldn't function properly, I was seeing shadow figures, hearing things like babies crying and voices that weren't there", she said.

"The walls were moving in on me and swirling, it sounds crazy but that's how tired I was."

Under police regulations officers on long-term sick leave are entitled to six months full pay, followed by six months on half pay.

Any sick leave taken beyond then goes unpaid. The same applies for teachers and NHS staff, although many workers, particularly in the private sector, will have much less favourable terms.

Around the time she was on sick leave, Helen's marriage ended - and she found herself on zero pay from December 2014 onwards.

She recalls: "I had five days to find a new home and there was only one up for rent around that time in my area.

"We moved into this house, it was horrible, mouldy and damp.

"At first I could barely afford to heat the house or use the electric. I only heated the house when my daughter was home and heated the water for her bath.

"One of my neighbours saw me through the window one day on the sofa wrapped in a big coat, hat, scarf and gloves and went to buy me a snuggle blanket to keep warm, she also, despite having a family of her own, made my daughter and I meals."

(Image: Helen Elizabeth)

Helen says she believes her mental health issues were brought on by challenging police colleagues over alleged incidents of abusive, racist and sexual behaviour and feeling isolated as a result.

Greater Manchester Police have declined to comment on anything other than sick pay provision.

"I went from being extremely proud to be a police officer to being so grateful to be out of the biggest gang in the world", Helen said.

"I loved the job, I loved the foundations of what a police officer does.

"For me there was no better job than to help people at the lowest ebbs of their life. My health has to come before anything else unfortunately."

While Helen struggled to make ends meet on zero pay she made the decision to take legal advice.

She submitted grievances to GMP over alleged sex discrimination, harassment and bullying, before being granted an employment tribunal.

Three weeks before the case was due to be heard, she was offered an out of court settlement.

Helen said: "My lawyer said to me they’ve asked if you are willing to settle out of court.

(Image: Helen Elizabeth)

"I didn’t want to, but I had a kid I couldn’t afford to feed. I did settle out of court. Part of that was because I was so ill, I was a mess."

GMP did not admit liability in Helen's case.

Helen is not allowed to disclose the sum of money she was given out of court, but she does describe it as 'significant'.

On Christmas Eve 2016 she finally, officially left the force, after being granted ill health retirement.

And since that date she has gone on to turn her life around and now lives with a new partner in Cheshire, with whom she has had another little girl.

The mum-of-two said: "On Christmas Eve I woke up as a civilian for the first time in my life.

"I was relieved, but also heartbroken I was no longer in the career I thought I would be in for my life.

"But my life is completely different now, I am happy beyond anything.

"The police is behind me. I don’t know if I’d be here if I stayed."

Helen has since gone on to write a book which has charted on Amazon and attracted interest from TV production companies.

Speaking of her time in GMP, she said: "The racists and the sexists are a minority, there are some really good officers.

"I’ve worked with a lot of them who do fight the system, others end up ill like me.

"I don’t want people to think I am bad mouthing the police. I do miss it."

A spokeswoman for GMP said: "The sick pay scheme for police officers is governed by Police Regulations and that’s what GMP is obliged to adhere to.

"GMP won’t be commenting further."