Questions raised over MoD police cuts in Wiltshire

A Wiltshire MP has raised concerns about Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to cut 80 military police jobs in the county.

The MoD's armed police force guard all defence locations in the UK and abroad.

Conservative MP for Salisbury, John Glen is concerned the jobs are going at the same time as 4,000 soldiers are relocating to the county from Germany.

The MoD said there was "scope for savings to be made in the policing of some defence establishments".

A reorganisation plan by the department will see about 4,000 troops and some 3,500 extra family members relocated to Salisbury Plain from Germany.

It will be the biggest influx of troops on the plain since World War II.

Mr Glenn was raising the issue with a question in Parliament on Monday.

He said: "With 4,000 troops coming back to Wiltshire, we need to look at this again.

"It's quite clear that we need to think about whether we can really afford to lose 65 MoD police and 15 additional people who are part of the defence support unit that work with them.

"Wiltshire Police and the military police will not be able to take up the slack for that many people."

Wiltshire Police said: "The increase in military personnel and families coming to the area in the next few years, allied to the proposed reduction in Ministry of Defence Police, will present significant challenges at a time when civilian police budgets are under acute pressure."