Staff reported incidents of abuse

The union said it also found that police staff north of the border are lower paid than elsewhere in the UK and are more likely to have suffered verbal abuse themselves or have seen a colleague suffer it.

The national canvass of employees was commissioned by the union Unison, which represents more than 4,000 police staff in Scotland.

Despite the results, Unison said it remains supportive of government aims to increase police presence on Scotland's streets and to switch background tasks to support staff.

But officials are calling for increased resources to match any increase in responsibilities.

I know members who have left the force for the very reasons found in the survey Raymond Brown Unison's Strathclyde branch

Joe Di Paola, Scottish organiser for police staff, said: "The most worrying statistic is that half of our members do not feel valued by their force.

"The other is the level of abuse that they have to suffer.

"We need a new initiative to cut out this abuse. It should not be part of people's working lives."

He added: "Police staff are open to change and increased responsibilities, and the employers need to ensure that they get the training, support, professional status and salary to enable them to tackle these increased duties.

"Increased civilianisation needs proper resources if it is to succeed.

Results of the UK survey by NOP 50% of staff do not feel valued Female police staff lose out unfairly in pay and training 66% say stress levels have grown 76% of members say workloads have increased Scottish staff more likely to be low paid Staff in Scotland also more likely to suffer or witness verbal abuse

"These resources must be delivered up front, not on account.

"Police staff in Scotland want greater flexibility, professional development and training, higher grades and proper support."

Raymond Brown, Secretary of Unison's Strathclyde Police and Fire Branch, said he was not surprised by the results.

"I know members who have left the force for the very reasons found in the survey," he said.