The West police chief responsible for tackling domestic violence across the country has called on the Government and the courts to end delays that mean victims wait weeks for an injunction to stop their violent partner coming near them.

Chief Constable Brian Moore said lives were being saved by a new system in which a legal charity works with police to serve injunctions on abusers within 24 hours – but only a handful of areas had implemented the scheme.

He said until there was a national system in place, which meant the victims of domestic violence knew they could get an injunction in those vital few hours after police intervention, victims were still being left at risk.

The Wiltshire police chief is the man responsible for tackling domestic violence at a national level within the Association of Chief Police Officers. But he admitted that there was a postcode lottery on the time it took for victims to receive help that could save their lives.

In some areas court injunctions were served within a few days of the victim finally asking for one, but in others it took "weeks and weeks, and sometimes months".

This week, Mr Moore signed his own police force up to a deal with the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV). Their ground-breaking scheme means civil support workers can rush injunctions through the courts within 24 hours of abuse being reported.

"These injunctions are crucial," he explained. "Often, a victim of domestic violence does not want their abuser prosecuted because, after all, they love them. They just want the abuse to stop. In other cases, the police may well find it hard to bring charges anyway because of the nature of the offence.

"But an injunction requires a lesser burden of proof and gives the power back to the victim, preventing the abuser from returning and allowing the victim to remain in the home. These are new, tougher, injunctions that automatically give police the power of arrest if they are broken," he explained.

"Breaking the injunction can mean up to five years in prison. The average time it takes the victim of domestic violence to obtain one around the country is three to four weeks, which is far too long a time."

The NCDV scheme is already running in London and a few other constabularies, including Dorset, but not in other West forces. It involves police officers referring victims to NCDV support workers, and advising them that they can successfully prevent violent partners returning.

It also involves training for police officers, and a system that alerts officers called to the scene of an incident if an injunction is in place.

"A pressing national problem exists," said Mr Moore. "And I'm disappointed the public sector as a whole – the police, the Government, the courts – does not provide a seamless service to protect victims of domestic violence. I believe that the NCDV team are saving lives every week in this country.

"Police officers are being left with the situation where they are leaving the victim of violence at home, vulnerable, with their abuser out there and legally able to come back to that home, because the system does not work quickly enough.

"That is why we in Wiltshire have signed up to the scheme, so now victims can see action straight away to protect them," he added.

Anyone in Wiltshire who needs help should call the NCDV 24-hour emergency helpline on 0844 8044 999.