An army of 1,381 detectives, civilian staff and agency workers are working full-time on 88 cases across the country that are deemed “non-recent”. 

The probes cover everything from the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence to the Hillsborough disaster, the Rotherham grooming scandal and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. 

But it also includes the millions spent on historic sex cases that ruined the lives of blameless military generals and politicians after police were conned by a fantasist into investigating an alleged VIP paedophile ring. 

An initial survey put the total cost at £80million but a detailed review led by South Wales Police Chief Constable Matt Jukes for the Chief Constables’ Council has calculated the actual bill to be £236,618,710. 

A total of 28 forces across England and Wales are still working on 88 cases they deemed non-recent, of which 18 cover child abuse allegations. 

Twelve of them are having their costs covered by the Home Office but the rest are being paid from forces’ own stretched budgets. 

The longest-running investigation, Operation Primus, is Scotland Yard’s probe into the killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence by white thugs in 1993. 

The Met is also still looking into allegations of corruption that blighted the original investigation. The Met’s ongoing historic cases also include Operation Grange – the hunt for Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal in 2007 – which has cost £11million so far. 

Mr Jukes said: “There is value in bringing offenders to justice, for society and for victims. 

“Many forces already draw on experienced and retired officers to meet these challenges and further developments are under way to explore how we can provide additional capacity when it is most needed.” 

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