Up to 300 more officers are set to join the Force’s ranks this year. It comes as latest figures show Avon and Somerset Police lost another seventy officers from its roster during the past year.

The drop means that compared to 2010, there are 655 fewer officers on the streets, leaving around 2,600 in total.

The staffing cuts have allowed the force to make nearly £80 million in savings in ten years, therefore keeping pace with stringent Government budget cuts.

But early this year, Police and Crime Commissioner, Sue Mountstevens, said the cuts had gone so far that: “There is no muscle, there is no fat, we’re now into the bone. It’s really, really difficult.”

On 24th July, PCC Mountstevens said: “Thanks to local people, Avon and Somerset has been able to re-start an ambitious recruitment programme for police officers. Following a £1 monthly rise [per household] in the policing part of the council tax in April, the Constabulary is now recruiting up to 300 police officers this year.”

The reduction in police officer numbers across England and Wales to the lowest level since 1996 has led the Police Federation to warn that: “Policing in the UK is on the critical list.”

Latest figures show an eleven per cent rise in recorded crime across England and Wales, and a nineteen per cent increase in violent crimes. In Avon and Somerset, recorded crime is up by one per cent and violent crime is up by four per cent.

PCC Mountstevens is now asking voters if they would back an additional £1 rise next year, “So we can sustain officer and PCSO numbers at this increased level going forward”.

She said: “It’s no surprise to residents there are fewer police officers on our streets. We’ve made nearly £80 million of savings in the past eight years, and this means there are 655 fewer police officers.

“The challenge for me, as the area’s Police and Crime Commissioner, is to sustain the recruitment of officers within the current funding we receive, and sadly I need local people’s support to do this, as there is not enough money from central government to protect policing.”

Ché Donald, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “These new figures are proof, as if we even needed it, that policing in the UK is on the critical list.”

He said since 2010 police forces across the UK had lost more than 21,300 officers – a drop of fifteen per cent.

The minister for Policing and the Fire Service, Nick Hurd, said: “The number of people joining police forces is at a ten-year high and demonstrates that policing is still a desirable and sought-after career.

“Decisions regarding the number of officers and how they are deployed are a matter for police and crime commissioners and chief constables. They are best placed to understand how to meet the needs of local communities.

“However, I’ve spoken to every force about the changing demand they face, and we are helping with a £460 million increase in overall funding in 2018-19, including increased funding to tackle counter-terrorism and increased funding for local policing through council tax precept.”

Jack Pitts