The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the “valour and sacrifice” of police officers, including one from Workington, and staff as a national memorial was dedicated to those who have “laid down their lives to keep us safe”.

Standing in the shadow of the new UK Police Memorial, Charles expressed thanks on behalf of the country to the men and women who have put themselves in harm’s way to protect the nation.

He unveiled a plaque at the monument, which commemorates almost 5,000 police officers and staff who have died on duty - 1,500 from acts of violence - since half-brothers Henry and John Fielding established the Bow Street Runners in 1749.

Families of police officers who have been killed on duty were among the invited guests, as was Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, chief constables from forces across the country, and representatives from policing charities.

Readings were given by bereaved relatives of police officers, with Emma Barker, daughter of Pc Bill Barker of Cumbria Police, who was killed when he fell from a bridge that collapsed during the Cumbria floods in 2009, reciting the poem Beannacht by John O’Donohue.

PC Barker was on Northside Bridge in Workington on when a section of it gave way underneath him and he was swept into a swollen river.

He had been responding to reports that a car might have fallen into the River Derwent.

Charles told the invited guests during the open-air ceremony: “To those of you with personal experience of the sudden, unexpected and tragic loss of someone in the police service, whether you are here today, viewing from home, or attending one of the many services within your constabularies, I can only offer the assurance of my most heartfelt thoughts and prayers.

“On behalf of the nation, I would particularly like to express my profound gratitude for the valour and sacrifice of those who have laid down their lives to keep us safe, to remember their families who mourn, and to recognise those who continue to serve in order to safeguard our freedoms.

“Whilst our expressions of appreciation will always be hopelessly inadequate and, unfortunately, make the anguish no easier to bear, I do pray that this memorial will not only provide a hallowed place for us all to pay tribute to each of them, but also the reassurance that those who have given their lives so selflessly will leave a lasting legacy and will never be forgotten.”

A minute’s silence was held to remember all those from the police service who have died in the line of duty and Charles then led a wreath-laying ceremony, followed by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

In a pre-recorded video message, the Prime Minister said: “It takes a very special kind of person to be a police officer. When you pull that uniform, each day, you have little idea of what’s going to be asked of you, what dangers, you might face.

“All you know for sure is that anything could happen, and that there’s a chance, however small that you won’t be going home to your loved ones at the end of your shift. Yet every day, you’d go out and serve the public all the same.”

He added: “No words can adequately do justice to the debt we as a nation owe your fallen colleagues, but I trust that this magnificent memorial in pride of place at the National Arboretum demonstrates the scale of our gratitude for their service, and that it will stand for centuries as a fitting tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who together form the finest police force in the world.”

The new 39ft (12m) tall brass memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire features leaf-shaped apertures representing courage, sacrifice and lives lost.

It was designed by Walter Jack and includes two low screens bearing the names of 2,000 police officers and staff, along with spaces for reflection.