The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) paid out £25m to settle civil cases related to the Troubles in recent years and most of it went to lawyers, the chief constable has told MPs.

Jon Boutcher said lawyers received almost £18m – more than double the amount obtained by victims who brought the claims.

He was giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

Mr Boutcher described legacy as “a green field site for lawyers” due to “an attritional approach by all the security agencies around information disclosure”.

Mr Boutcher said the PSNI was not properly funded for legacy issues and the costs would pay for the recruitment of hundreds of extra officers.

The PSNI’s costs cover not just court cases, but also operating its Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB).

“We are spending just over £20m a year. That would be about 400 police officers,” he said.

“But we’ve been left with this millstone, this anchor, that holds the PSNI back.

“It is a considerable burden on us.”

The PSNI is currently dealing with 1,100 civil actions – in 2014 the figure was 150.

The head of its LIB, detective chief superintendent Claire McGuigan, said: “We don’t have anywhere near the resources to deal with those, nor the money to settle them.

“We’re in a position that is very, very difficult and it doesn’t build trust in the community because it looks like we are stalling.”

She said the PSNI continues to have “obligations” despite the Legacy Act passing Troubles’ cases to a new body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, also gave evidence to the committee.

She told the committee it was unreasonable to expect the PSNI to use “today’s budget to fund yesterday’s cases”.

“The government really need to be ready to set aside a specific budget for these matters,” she said.