A UNION says it is battling to save front-line police officer services from potential cuts.

North Yorkshire Police has a £5.3m budget shortfall largely due to a cut in the annual level of Government funding.

No solution to make up the shortfall has been decided upon, but reducing the number of police officers is an option.

Mark Botham, chairman of the force's Police Federation, is keen to see savings in other areas.

The union chief said: "The budget shortfall amounts to about a five per cent cut and I am raising the issue so it is looked at.

"About 80 per cent of police funding goes on staff costs, so that's got to be something which figures in the talks. One option could be not to replace any officers who retire, but I expect those involved to make some very tough decisions.

"But I am saying let us have a look at the bigger picture rather than taking the easy option."

Figures provided by the federation show that North Yorkshire has about 1,600 uniformed officers. They also show that about a third of those officers have at most five years on-the-job experience.

Mr Botham's stance has won support from members of North Yorkshire Police Authority.

Councillor David Lloyd-Williams said: "I would support not cutting uniformed officer numbers. I feel there will be some other areas where there may an overloading of staff and I feel an overall review is needed.

"We need to look at the capability of the whole force and we should be concerned that we don't go backwards.

"I would not like to see officer levels fall, as there's lots of other areas we can look at first.

"We have a quality of service which makes North Yorkshire one of, if not the, safest places in the country."

Coun Lloyd-Willams denied the authority could dip into its £34m reserves to make up the deficit.

He said: "We can't just dip into the bank balance as there is a limit to what you can do. A lot of money is earmarked for medium-term projects and for others which are already started."

A review is being carried out which will look at where savings can be made, he added.