AROUND 500 frontline officers could be lost from the beat as Lancashire Police looks to save a further £20million from its budget, union bosses said.

The force has already saved £60million, and chief constable Steve Finnigan said measures were in place to find the rest of the ‘savings’ by 2017, although he was concerned they would have to slash even more from the budget in coming years.

The total number of officers that could be lost has not yet been officially announced, but Rachel Baines, from the Police Federation said she thought there was potential for a further 500 to be cut.

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Mr Finnigan said he was ‘apprehensive’ about losing more staff to meet the funding cuts.

The force has already lost 600 officers as part of the cutbacks, the equivalent of all of the police covering East Lancashire.

Miss Baines said: “Eighty-five per cent of the police budget is spent on staff wages, so it is an inevitable consequence that we will be seeing a reduction in police officer numbers. We are told crime is falling but in the next breath, we are told we are not recording crime properly. We cannot have it both ways.

“Police officers don’t just deal with crimes. They deal with missing people and juvenile nuisance among other things which are not necessarily crime. The police are being pulled in every single direction and staff are feeling the pressure.

“At our peak, there were 3,800 officers. We now have just under 3,000 and I believe there is potential to lose up to another 500, maybe even more because there is not much scope left for cutting anything else back.”

“It is scary, but this is not the fault of the constabulary. They have been forced into making these budget cuts.”

The comments came after a report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary praised Lancashire Police for its value for money and how it was planning for further funding reductions.

Mr Finnigan said: “It is safe to say that every part of the business will have to be looked at. There is hardly anywhere that is not being touched. We have great staff and of course I am apprehensive about losing more and I know I will have to.”

The Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy report also noted how the force had a ‘good’ approach to reducing crime, preventing offending, investigating allegations and tackling anti-social behaviour. The force was rated ‘outstanding’ .

Mr Finnigan said: “I am very proud and what this shows is that Lancashire is in that very top tranche of police forces.”

Mike Cunningham, HMIC inspector for the northern region, said: “Lancashire Constabulary is effective at preventing and investigating crime, reducing offending and tackling anti-social behaviour with the victim at the centre of decisions and activity.”

Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner, said: “The force is clearly bucking the national trend with its levels of performance, and residents should be reassured by that.”