Nearly 200 people in Nottinghamshire have been on police bail for more than six months, including one individual who has been waiting for more than two years for a decision on charges.
According to data obtained by the BBC, some 1,796 people in the Nottinghamshire Police force area are on police bail. Of those, 177 have been on bail for more than six months.
This is the fourth-highest number of people on bail for more than half a year in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Nottinghamshire Police comes in behind the Met Police, where 910 people have been on bail for more than six months, West Yorkshire Police (859) and Lancashire Police (187).
One individual in Nottinghamshire has been on bail for more than 831 days.
The figures show at least 57,428 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are currently on bail. Of those, 3,172 have been waiting for more than six months for a decision on charges.
The data, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, has prompted The Law Society to call for a statutory time limit on police bail.
There is currently no limit on how long a person can be kept on police bail before a decision on whether to charge them is made.
One man in the Metropolitan Police area has not been told whether or not he will be charged, despite having been arrested and bailed three years and eight months ago.
Conditions can be placed on police bail. Police can enforce curfews or restrictions on movement and financial transactions while an investigation is ongoing.
The Law Society says people are often left "in the wilderness" while police decide whether or not they should be charged with a crime.
Richard Atkinson, chairman of The Law Society's criminal law committee, told BBC News: "They have the allegation hanging over their head, they have the worry about what is happening to them, and then of course they have their reputation at risk if it becomes known that they have been accused of this crime," he said.
Mr Atkinson believes the limit should be set at 28 days. "I would call for a 28-day statutory maximum period for police bail. But it could be extended by applying to a magistrate," he said.
"There, police would have to explain what stage they were at in their investigation and why a further 28-day extension of bail was necessary."
Asked why it sometimes takes months for police to come to a decision on charges, Mr Atkinson said cases fall into two categories. "There are those cases where police have to carry out forensic tests… and the resources available to them simply aren't sufficient," he said.
"But there are also those cases where frankly I think because there is no requirement on the police to act within any time there is an attitude amongst some officers simply of 'let's put off what we could have done today', and things have been left to drag along."
ACPO lead on criminal justice, Chief Constable Chris Eyre, said: "Police bail is an essential tool in securing justice. It allows investigators to ensure every possible avenue is explored, while those arrested need not remain in custody.
"Each and every investigation follows a different path, and detectives will go where the evidence leads them. The huge complexity of some investigations in the 'information age' can mean this takes time. Hi-tech crime investigations, computer forensics, CCTV, telephony, using interpreters or gathering evidence across borders and jurisdictions can all take time and painstaking analysis.
"We would all agree that criminal cases should be concluded as swiftly, justly and transparently as possible. This is important both for victims, and in preserving public confidence in the criminal justice system as a whole.
"But officers must have the time needed to deal with complex investigations appropriately and thoroughly."
