Kent crime commissioner Matthew Scott says the force’s failure to record more than 24,000 offences - including rape - is unacceptable.

A damning report by inspectors revealed that 16% of all reported crimes went unrecorded between June and November last year.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found the force was failing many victims of crime and rated it as inadequate.

It led to a public apology from the chief constable Alan Pughsley.

Mr Scott said: “The findings in this report are unacceptable. I welcome HMIC's independent report on this matter as it has highlighted some serious issues that needed to be resolved as a matter of urgency.”

“What this shows is that really vulnerable victims of crime were not always getting the service that they should rightly expect.

"I have been assured that most have since been contacted and that if someone in the same situation were to call Kent Police today, they would not receive the same level of service that they were getting before March 2017.”

He pledged to monitor progress closely and would be asking HMIC to return to ensure the force was “getting it right.”

Mr Scott said the report should “not be a reflection on the frontline officers and staff within Kent Police who I know will be disappointed too, and who will be continuing their focus on keeping our county safe.”

The HMIC report ordered Kent Police to urgently implement its recommendations.

It said: "The serious causes of concern found during this inspection are such that HMIC may re-visit the force in early 2018 to assess progress."

Improvements ordered by inspectors after a visit in 2014 had been made, but not all had been maintained since, it said. This regression undermined the effectiveness and efficiency of the force's crime-recording requirements.

Reports of crime made directly to public protection teams were often not being recorded, it found.

Chief constable Mr Pughsley said: "Since the inspection, we have worked hard with HMIC to improve our crime data integrity, not just for the last year, but going forward, and will not rest until we are satisfied it is the best it can be."