RECENT tragedies such as the terror attacks are a reminder that more needs to be done to help the mental health of emergency service workers, a former police officer has said.

Ed Simpson retired from North Yorkshire Police last year, after 20 years on the force, and said he suffered mental health problems which meant he had to leave.

He has remained a ‘blue light champion’, speaking to forces around the country about the need to talk about their mental health problems.

He said: “I do genuinely worry about people I’ve left behind because I don’t want any of them to end up feeling like I felt, wanting to kill yourself over your job.

“It’s great people are talking, but one issue I still have, and feel guilty about almost, is I’m wanting people to be more open about their problems and come forward, but I’m not sure we have the support - not just police, but funding in terms of mental health problems countrywide.”

Ed said recent statistics showed almost 250 police officers, mostly male, took their own lives between 2001 and 2013 - far more than had been killed in the line of duty - and he expected that figure would continue to rise.

He said budget cuts and the recent terror attacks and the tragedy at Grenfell Tower meant officers around the country were now working harder than ever before.

Ed said: “There seems to be a lot going on that’s really bad and that’s a whole other page of stories, but in terms of policing of those things, it’s additional pressure for those officers. Extra cops on the streets aren’t extra cops, just officers who’ve had their rest days cancelled.

“It can really wear you down. Cops go to a job where there’s been a baby death or people have died, at a house, and they have to deal with that. It doesn’t make the news, but happens every week up and down the country. I think terror attacks highlight what the emergency services do because people start to forget.”

Ed said the public can help officers with shows of appreciation, as seen with the public response to firefighters following the Grenfell tragedy.

He said: “We’ve seen appreciation and that will help cops massively because there’s nothing worse than doing a job that hard and not feeling appreciated - it’s soul destroying.“If you know the public are onside and support you personally I think that can go a long way to helping. Simple things like that can help.”