THE PRIVATISED forensic service which covers the Dorset police area has admitted it has 32 computer cases and 73 phone cases waiting to be allocated in the county.

The news came as a former employee of the service accused it of "letting down the public and highly-trained, skilled staff."

The employee, who used to work for South West Forensics, told the BBC that the "whole point of regional forensics was to save money, but quality has not been maintained".

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “We are working together with South West Forensics on an agreed action plan to reduce the numbers as soon as possible. We will always prioritise the most serious and high-risk cases first and are doing our utmost to provide the best service possible.”

Steve Slater, Head of Digital Forensics at South West Police Forensics, added: “All cases submitted to us are prioritised based upon the risk to the victim, offender or witness. So lower priority cases will unfortunately need to wait slightly longer than a high-risk child abuse case or crime in action such as the examination of a high-risk missing child’s mobile phone.

He said cases where there is an immediate requirement to examine digital devices were being prioritised and completed either the same day or within the first few weeks as the overall police investigation develops.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed delays in digital forensic cases, which include tablets and mobile phones, increased in a two-month period.

By May more than 830 fingerprint cases were waiting to be analysed by South West Forensic Services and it is reported that the Police Federation claim examination of some digital material was being delayed by up to 12 months.

The news comes just four months after a House of Lords committee published a report slamming the 'dysfunctional' forensic science market, stating that: "The quality and delivery of forensic science in England and Wales is inadequate.

"Simultaneous budget cuts and reorganisation, together with exponential growth in the need for new services such as digital evidence have put forensic science providers under extreme pressure," said the report.

Mr Slater said that in response to the registered delays, the service was introducing improvements to the business.

"These include increasing our staff numbers in the Dorset Digital Forensics Unit to cope with the operational work coming through the door and the new accreditation requirements," he said. "This is an improving picture and waiting times will reduce as staff are recruited and trained.”