POLICE used their own vehicles to transport people detained for mental health reasons to safety on hundreds of occasions last year, despite official rules advising against it.

The Mental Health Act currently allows police to remove someone to a place of safety for up to 72 hours if they appear to be suffering from mental health problems and need immediate care, or if they are a risk to themselves or others.

The government has set out plans to reform the 40-year-old Act, which include ending the use of police cells to hold someone experiencing a crisis and ensuring people detained under police powers are taken to safety in an ambulance.

Current guidance states patients must be taken to hospital or another health facility in an ambulance in all but "exceptional" circumstances.

But data from the Home Office shows 880 detentions under the Mental Health Act involved someone being taken away in a police vehicle in the year 2019 to 2020.

Of those, 747 occurred because of "unknown reasons", while an ambulance was not requested by officers on 57 occasions, and an ambulance was unavailable within half an hour in 45 cases.

Transportation in police vehicles accounted for 70 per cent of the total 1,253 detentions carried out over the period.

A new government white paper says the use of police vehicles to transport detained people in a crisis "risks making patients feel that they are being criminalised for their mental health".

Ministers have pledged to improve ambulance provision for urgent mental health cases and amend the Act to remove police stations as designated places of safety by 2024.

Mental health charity Mind said it is "just the beginning of what is now a long overdue process".

Sarah Gates, Sussex Police’s mental health liaison officer, said treating people in a mental health crisis with dignity and respect is “a high priority” for the force, but using an ambulance is not always the most suitable option.

She said: “Officers will use all information available to them to decide on the most appropriate method of transport.

“In some cases, a person in crisis may be displaying extremely violent behaviour and it is not safe or appropriate for them to travel in an ambulance.

"In some situations, keeping a person in crisis in a public place to wait for an ambulance can add even further distress, especially if the weather is bad and their clothing is inadequate.

Ms Gates added that police vehicles are not always marked with blue lights and sirens. The force has street triage teams, which include a response officer and mental health nurse, who work across Sussex in unmarked police cars and who can also take people in crisis to places of safety.

She said: “Sussex Police understands the need for a sensitive and professional approach when engaging with people in a mental health crisis, and our officers will always consider what is the best course of action for those involved at that time.”