THE police commissioner for Merseyside Jane Kennedy has said hundreds of police jobs will be lost if government cuts continue.

She spoke out after Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) required Merseyside Police to forecast future work force numbers, assuming cuts of four per cent to the government’s grant funding continue year on year until 2019.

In April 2010 Merseyside Police had 7,276 police officers, staff and PCSO’s. By 2019 there will be 4,444, a reduction of almost 3,000.

According to a spokeswoman from the commissioner’s office the force’s forecasts reveal the workforce will shrink by 40 per cent requiring hundreds of redundancies beginning in April 2016, 12 months after the general election, if the budget is to remain in balance.

By that time a total of 2,832 jobs will have been lost.

Mrs Kennedy said: “This is the first time I have seen the full extent of projected cuts over the next four years. It is clear to me that if the cuts continue at the current level the service that will be delivered will not be effective and will not be able to match the expectations of the public.

“The crude predictions required by the HMIC show the force may have to cut over half of the 1,840 support jobs such as call handlers, court case preparation staff and other essential posts that keep the police officers on the streets where they are needed.

“Those essential roles will have to be performed by police officers, exactly the opposite of what the force has been striving to achieve over the last few years as they have increased efficiency. It will mean even fewer officers available to police our streets."

“After the budget was announced I looked to see what hope there was that the police force that serves Merseyside would be protected from further austerity measures. There is no indication that any such protection will be given.

The commissioner has requested a report from Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable Sir Jon Murphy detailing the full impact of the cuts and a projection as to what services he will be able to deliver in 2019 if they continue as anticipated.