BOBBIES on the beat in rural areas around Gainsborough could be included in cost savings as staff at Lincolnshire Police face job cuts.

The force faces a scenario that could see its budget chopped by 17 per cent over the next four years.

Police chiefs admit they have no idea just how bad the situation could be when the Home Office reveals how much it will slash spending by later this year.

But if the 17 per cent budget cut was applied to the force's 2,200 employees, that would mean up to 300 jobs would be at risk.

Chief Constable Richard Crompton said the expected cuts might not necessarily mean hundreds of jobs would have to go.

But he could not say how severe the extent of the threats facing the force were.

"I am not talking about tens of people, but I am not necessarily talking about hundreds of people either. I simply don't know," he said.

But if anyone was hoping police would be spared the brunt of the Government's spending cuts, they are about to have a rude awakening.

Lincolnshire Police bosses are resigned to the force being told later this year that its £108m budget will be slashed over a four-year period.

While nothing has yet been set in stone, the police say it would be naive to imagine their budgets will somehow escape the axe.

Mr Crompton – the county's top policeman – says it is "highly likely" the Home Office will announce cuts to budgets later this year of 25 per cent.

Given that government grants make up around two-thirds of the police pot of cash, he believes this would see the force's budget slashed by about 18 per cent.

He accepts that both policemen and backroom staff would be at risk if this happens.

"There's no point in second guessing, but it would be naive to think that my budget would not reduce over that period by about the 17 to 18 per cent mark," said Mr Crompton.

"With the budget I have, where just over 80 per cent is spent on salaries, the reality is that inevitably I will have to cut into the salaries budget."

Analysts say up to 35,000 uniformed officers, 20,000 civilian staff and 4,000 community support officers could go across the UK if the national policing budget is cut by 25 per cent.

Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, also admitted late last month that current police levels are not sustainable.

But until departmental budget cuts are revealed in October, no-one knows exactly how bad it will be.

Gainsborough county and district councillor Chris Underwood-Frost is also a senior member of the Lincolnshire Police Authority.

"People across the force are holding their breath because they don't not know how bad the cuts will be," he said.

"And I know that a lot of people are wondering what the hell is going on.

"The fear is that the impact will be simple. Policing in rural areas will diminish and it will all go into places like Lincoln, Gainsborough and Sleaford."