POLICE budget cuts have left officers struggling to attend crimes and led to victims being forced to make their own way to stations, according to body representing for force's rank and file.

Reports to the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) suggest the force's ageing and dwindling fleet of vehicles has left officers unable to attend incidents due to a lack of transport, while others describe an injured victim being asked to travel to a station alone after attending the hospital.

It has also been claimed that officers performing a drugs swoop were denied a sniffer dog because its handler would incur overtime pay.

Officers also claimed delays in delivering basic equipment such as statement forms and paper masks were routine, according to the SPF.

Police Scotland's budget has been protected in "real terms", the Scottish Government has said.

Calum Steele, SPF secretary, published details of the complaints on social media as part of a campaign to highlight the impact of budget cuts on the force.

It comes days after claims that officers have been asked to buy items from a charity shop in a bid to save cash.

Mr Steele claimed the federation is now receiving "umpteen" complaints from officers on a daily basis.

"These issues are not unique to any one area of the force, we are hearing the same thing across the country," he said,

"The problem with the transport is not all the time, but not being able to get people to jobs because of a shortage of fleet is not uncommon.

"The fleet is ageing, there's a shortage of vehicles. We've also got buildings with asbestos and we've got to investigate 21st century crimes using last century's equipment.

"Most officers don't even have access to the internet when they're at work - and these examples I've made public are not the worst of it.

"Ultimately the government has got to step up to the plate on this, it's just not good enough to hide behind the fig leaf of revenue funding when the biggest problem is capital."

Last week the SPF published a lengthy statement condemning a "cash is king" culture in the force and the examples cited by the federation were the "ridiculous yet brutal realities" of widespread belt-tightening.

They also claimed the public was being misled about the realities of current policing.

Other examples given by the SPF included incidents where cases were passed from officer to officer - risking mistakes and lost evidence - and traffic officers being forced to drive long distances back to their station for lunch to avoid expenses .

Police Scotland most some of the claims.

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: "We will continue to engage with the Federation and others as the service addresses the financial challenges we currently face.

"We need to lower the cost of policing while maintaining an effective service to communities which meets the needs and demands we face now and in the future."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government’s budget for 2016-17 provided real terms protection for the police resource budget and made clear that officer numbers will be maintained.

"At the same time, work led by SPA and Police Scotland to consider future demands on policing is ongoing.

"Despite the challenges of implementing the most significant public sector reform in Scotland since devolution, recorded crime in Scotland is at a 41-year low, with violent crime down by more than half since 2006-07."