Some cash-strapped police officers have resorted to using food banks, couldn’t afford Christmas presents for their children and others have had to sell their homes.

The stark claims about officers struggling to afford to live properly are outlined by former chief constable Gary Roberts in his final annual report which he put together before his retirement at the end of March.

Mr Roberts said in his introductory letter that police officers were particularly badly hit by the cost of living crisis.

He said: ‘In overall real terms, police pay has fallen by almost 20 per cent in the last decade and the effects of this were felt at individual and organisational levels.

‘Put simply, some police officers struggled to live: some used food banks, some could not afford presents at Christmas for their children and others had to sell their homes.’

Mr Roberts had made similar warnings about police pay in his previous annual report.

And they were given added weight earlier this year following a survey by the island’s Police Federation which found officers were ‘battling to feed themselves and their families’ – and warned of an exodus of staff with policing ‘resting on a knife-edge’.

Isle of Man police pay scales are linked to the UK.

An 8% wage rise was agreed last year for the lowest paid officers.

The Manx government has pledged to find a solution to the issues highlighted by the Federation.

During the year 2022-23, overall crime rose by 7% but Mr Roberts said much of the increase was a reflection on extra police activity rather than a change to the safety of the island.

The year saw the largest-ever seizure of controlled drugs, with the value of drugs seized rising from £650,000 the year before to more than £2 million. One operation, Operation Artemis, led to the seizure of well over a million pounds worth of cannabis. In total, the amount of cannabis seized rose by almost 400%.

Fraud offences during the year rose by 16%.

But there was also a welcome decline in the number of serious assaults, which fell by 24%.

Burglary remained at a very low level, with the combined total of domestic and non-domestic burglaries of 75. This compare to a figure of about 600 in the mid-1990s.

There was a 4% decrease in reported sexual offences. Between Apri 2022 and April 2023, 39 rape investigations were opened.

The year saw the conviction of Joseph Marshall for second time for historical child sexual abuse at the former Knottfield children’s home in Douglas. He was subsequently jailed for six years.

Mr Roberts said in his last annual report: ‘Marshall remains, in my view, the most significant and dangerous sex offender that this island has known.

‘His imprisonment after a trial was much welcomed by many in the community. As has always been the case, he showed no remorse at all.

‘I have spoken to many people who were harmed by him and the regime that he ran at Knottfield.

‘The things that they shared with me will stay with me forever.’

The year also saw a 2% decrease in road traffic collisions, a 12% drop in public order offences and 14% fall in offensive weapons.

Overall crime detection rate was 48%, up 5% rise over the last two years and widening the gap between detection rates here and those seen in England and Wales. The detection rate here is now around four times that of police forces there.