Mr Henderson said police dealt with an average of 107 mental health incidents a day and estimated more than 100,000 police hours were spent on them each year.

This amounts to around £4m a year, he told MPs.

“This is not appropriate for those members of the public who are in a health crisis.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks that having a police officer with a gun, a stab vest, handcuffs should be mental health support for someone in a health crisis for any significant period of time.”

Mr Henderson said the high volume of calls meant fewer police at a time of significant financial pressures and the lowest number of officers since the PSNI came into existence.

“It feels like the threats to our community are becoming more and more challenging – four women killed in a six-week period in August at the hands of men, race hate riots in the summer, the horrific (Alexander) McCartney sleepover case, the continuing the shadow of paramilitarism and the criminal exploitation of youth.

“This is police work, protecting our communities from harm.”