ASSAULTS on police officers almost doubled in a year.

Wiltshire’s chief constable said thugs who hit and spit on his officers should not be tolerated. In the past year assault numbers have have doubled from 55 in 2016/17 to 103 in 2017/18.

Kier Pritchard, who took on the role in February, added: “Our officers, staff and volunteers put themselves in danger responding to incidents with limited information on a daily basis.

"They continuously run into danger whilst others run away. I speak to officers on a near daily basis that have been assaulted or abused on duty.

"Facing this type of treatment simply because you work for the police is disgraceful and there should be no excuse or tolerance of it.

"As a force we are now working on introducing additional measures to ensure that our officers have increased protection going forward and are adequately supported when they become victims themselves."

Sgt Ho Tsang, a former Swindon police officer who transferred to Chippenham a year ago, said he had been spat and racially abused by an aggressive drunk who had been kicked out of the family home by his frightened partner.

He added: “As soon as things didn't go his way he tried to use the only thing he knew about me to hurt me. It's shocked me at how much more racial intolerance I've experienced outside of Swindon in the more rural parts of the county.”

Trowbridge officer Insp Gill Hughes feared for her life after she was rounded on by a drink driver who punched her and smacked her head into a wall: “I couldn't breathe and all I could think was that I was going to die. I truly believed that I was never going to see my children again.

"I really think that the only reason he didn't kill me was because, following a previous assault at work two years earlier, I had started Tae Kwon Do training so was able to defend myself pretty well."

After she was able to hit her attacker with a pair of handcuffs, he fled into a nearby house before returning with a knife. It took several officers armed with tasers to restrain him.

"My children were aged 12 and 15 at the time and having to sit down with them and explain what had happened was one of the hardest things."

Angus Macpherson, police and crime commissioner, called for better protection for serving police officers. He has backed the proposed Assaults on Emergency Service Workers Bill, which was passed by parliament this year and could see those who assault 999 workers handed 12 month prison sentences.

He said: "It's paramount that the law protects our police whilst they're protecting us and recognises their additional training.

"Anyone who assaults an officer, staff member or volunteer on duty should face the full force of the law; being injured and abused on duty is not part and parcel of working for the police.

"I know that it has been a priority for the chief constable and the [police] executive leadership team to ensure that the workforce have better protection and better support when incidents like this occur, including the introduction of the seven point assault plan to ensure that you don't write up your own statement and another officer does this for you.

"Regardless of whether you work for the police or not, if you are a victim of crime you should be treated in the exact same way as you yourself are expected to treat a victim. I am thoroughly committed to ensuring that whilst the police serve our communities to keep them safe that we should do the same in return."