High figures for health detainees

Police cells should only be used in exceptional circumstances

The number of people with mental health problems being held in Devon and Cornwall Police cells is three times the national average.

Devon and Cornwall Police reported 174 detentions per 10,000 under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

The force put the high figures down to the region's history of asylums and an ageing population.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission says many of these people should instead be in hospital.

Section 136 enables officers to take someone they believe is suffering from a mental disorder, and in need of immediate care or control, from a public place to a "place of safety".

There they can be examined by a doctor and interviewed by an approved social worker.

Deprived area status... can sometimes be linked to an increase in people with mental health issues Chief Insp Ivan Trethewey

But the IPCC report, while not blaming the Devon and Cornwall force, suggests it was being used as the main place of safety.

Chief Insp Ivan Trethewey of the Devon and Cornwall police, said: "Historically the area proved popular for 1970s developments of hostels and cheap housing developments which were then populated (with agreement) by residents from under privileged areas, from as far away as Liverpool.

Some of these residents had mental health issues, he added.

Care in Community

Bodmin in Cornwall had housed a very well known "county asylum" for many years which was populated not only from within the county, but by people from outside the South West, said Mr Trethewey.

"Most of the inhabitants from this former residential hospital remained living in the area when the centre significantly reduced in size a few years ago under a Care in the Community initiative.

"Other factors may include an ageing population as the West Country is a popular retirement destination," he said.

"Some parts of our force area have also received deprived area status, such as parts of Camborne, Redruth and Penwith, and this status can sometimes be linked to an increase in people with mental health issues."

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has established a multi-agency group to develop a new set of standards on the use of Section 136, which are due to be published on 29 September 2008.