Four UK police forces are to abandon government targets and adopt a “common-sense approach” as to whether officers should make arrests or not.

The initiative is being tested by the Surrey, Leicestershire, West Midlands and Staffordshire forces.

The presence of government targets has been criticised for encouraging officers to focus on minor crimes which yield easier results than more serious crimes.

Surrey police chief Mark Rowley said the public did not want officers to be “compelled” to always arrest people.

The introduction of the initiatives follows recommendations outlined in Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s February review of policing in which he stated that police did not need to collect the same amount of paperwork for a broken window as a murder.

He said that by cutting red tape at least five million man hours - or 2,500 officers - could be saved.

As an example, Surrey police force said that under current national guidelines, a complaint that a child had damaged a neighbour’s greenhouse with a football would automatically result in a criminal damage offence being recorded and an investigation being started.

Now, however, “it may be possible to quickly establish that the damage was accidental and the child’s family have offered to pay for a repair”.

“The neighbour’s complaint is solved, the child is not unnecessarily criminalised, and the time required for police to complete the paperwork for a crime investigation can be put to better use dealing with other public concerns,” it said.

Currently, Surrey ranks highly in the list of best performing police forces in the country, but Chief Constable Rowley said he was prepared for a poorer official rating this year.

“When the public contact us about minor disputes and incidents, they want practical, common-sense resolutions,” he said.

“This can range from arrests when a minor incident is the tip of an iceberg, to advice and informal solutions when it is not.

“They do not want officers to feel compelled to record all incidents as crimes and to always arrest those involved, simply to hit targets.

“I want our officers to apply their professional judgement and discretion to do the right thing.”

The Home Office said it was aware the police forces were about to start pilots “that will enable officers to use their professional judgement to determine the level of detail in recording of crimes”.