Cumbria Police must save £26m by 2020, commissioner says

Richard Rhodes said the force was already struggling to save £20m since 2010

Cumbria Police is facing further cuts from its budget of up to £26m by 2020, the area's police and crime commissioner has warned.

Richard Rhodes said the force had already struggled to save £20m since 2010.

He said any fresh cuts would have a "significant impact" on the level of policing in the county.

The Home Office said reforming police forces was "working" and overall crime had fallen by a quarter since 2010.

A spokesman added that the current way of allocating funding was "complex, opaque and out of date".

Mr Rhodes said Cumbria Police had until the end of October to respond to a government consultation on the proposed new funding.

'Sustainable footing'

He said: "These further reductions will mean that policing resources in Cumbria will have fallen by £46m over a 10 year period to 2020.

"Proposed cuts of this scale will have a significant impact on the level of policing within the county and I will now be working with the chief constable on ascertaining the future financial viability of the police service."

Chief Constable, Jerry Graham, said: "There is only so much money that can be saved while retaining a viable policing service."

Mike Penning, minister for policing, crime, criminal justice and victims, said crime in Cumbria had fallen 9% in the last five years.

He added: "However, if we want policing in this country to be the best it can be, then we must reform further, and that includes putting police funding on a long-term, sustainable footing."