Greater Manchester Police closed 141,010 cases last year without even identifying a suspect, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party’s analysis of new Home Office figures found that of the 360,099 offences committed between April 2021 and March 2022 39.16% were not investigated.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “These awful figures show criminals are getting away with victimising people on an industrial scale. The Conservative party love to talk tough on crime, but they can’t even get the basics right.

“And on Andy Burnham’s watch, GMP has remained stubbornly in special measures, has been cited repeatedly for failing victims of domestic abuse, and failed to engage in the recent review into child sex exploitation in Oldham.

“That is just part of the reason why we have written to the Home Secretary asking for a public inquiry into Greater Manchester Police, or any of the other types of investigations available to them.

“The sad facts are that there have too many people in Oldham been failed, but that this is not confined to Oldham, as the previous investigations into Operation Augusta and into the horrible abuse committed in Rochdale have also shown.”

The Liberal Democrats have called for increased funding for dedicated community officers, with sufficient resources to ensure more crimes can be properly investigated, as well as asking the Government to conduct a public inquiry.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “Time and again, I feel sorry for the officers, many of whom I talk to on a regular basis, who are really committed to their jobs, to the communities in which they live, and to catching criminals.

“It is sad that they are being let down by an underfunded system, and where no-one is being held to account for organisational failings that are hampering their ability to investigate so many crimes.

“We need an honest discussion of what has gone wrong, and how we get to a place where it can’t happen again.”