Cumbria Police considers cuts to inquiry desks

Public inquiry desks run by Cumbria Police could be closed as part of a money saving review.

The force operates 17 front-counter services around the county at a cost of £1m a year, but this could be reduced to five if proposals are accepted.

Government spending cuts mean the constabulary needs to save £20m over the next three years.

A public consultation will be carried out until the end of May before the Police Authority makes any decisions.

Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said: "We now have a significantly smaller budget so we must find ways of saving money that have the least impact on frontline policing.

"During our last annual consultation we asked the public about contacting the police.

"We were informed that 58% of the public preferred to contact us via the telephone in non-emergencies and 29% think that we should make greater use of electronic ways of contacting people."

Other options proposed include cutting opening hours and making more use of mobile police stations, council offices and fire stations.