Officers under investigation after shocking audio released of a foul-mouthed rant left on suspected victim's voicemail

WARNING: This story contains language which some people may find offensive

Two police officers have been accused of leaving a vile, expletive-riddled voicemail message on the phone of a suspected domestic abuse victim.

An investigation has been launched by the professional standards team at West Midlands Police over the claims.

The complaint was made by 19-year-old Alex Faragher, from Sutton Coldfield, who was due to give a statement to police over reports of domestic violence in January.

But police arrived when she was out - and when they called her, she says they accidentally left their phone off the hook, meaning their foul-mouthed rant was caught in full.

On the audio, the men can be heard calling her a "f **bitch" and a "slag".

It goes on to say: "The only other thing we can do is go back, f** draft the statement ourselves and just get the bitch to sign it."

Listen to the message in full here:

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, the 19-year-old wedding caterer said:

Two officers from Sutton Coldfield police station have now been put on restricted duties, and will not be working in public-facing roles while the investigation is ongoing.

Ch Supt Rachel Jones has spoken of her "shock and devastation" after hearing about the complaint.

She said she was particularly upset by the realisation that the claims may have an impact on whether domestic violence victims come forward in future.

Domestic violence charities have spoken of their own anger at the reports - even going so far as to say they were "appalling but not surprising".

Refuge has now called for a public inquiry into the attitude of all authorities who deal with domestic abuse victims.

Charity chief executive Sandra Horley said workers regularly heard about the "negative" attitudes of those supposed to help.

The charity has urged people to sign their petition calling for an inquiry, launched after an investigation found the response by Essex Police to a case which resulted in the murder of Maria Stubbings by her ex-partner.