HAMPSHIRE’S top cop has delivered a stark warning to residents over impending savage cuts to the force that could see police officer numbers slashed to a “dangerous” level.

In an unprecedented step for a chief constable, Andy Marsh, the head of the county’s police service, has spoken out amid fears that people living in Hampshire will “sleepwalk” into another round of multi-million pound cutbacks that will mean vital services they rely on will be axed.

In two months' time those holding the purse strings at Hampshire Constabulary will learn from the Home Office exactly how much needs to be shaved off their already crippled budget – having been warned it could be up to 40 per cent, or £65 million.

That is on top of the £80 million they have already saved since 2010 which saw 1,500 jobs lost, police stations shut and buildings sold off.

It will mean that by 2020 more than half of the workforce could be gone.

If the worst happens to Hampshire police – one of the largest forces in England and Wales and yet the sixth cheapest – Mr Marsh says there will be no choice but to lose police officers from the frontline.

In turn, many of the services they currently provide will have to go.

It’s a giant step too far, those at the helm say – and it could have devastating consequences.

In an interview with The Gazette’s sister newspaper, the Southern Daily Echo, he said: “The Home Office has asked us to prepare for savings in the region of 25 to 40 per cent.

“In crude terms that is another £40 to £65m – and that is between 800 and 1,200 police officers.

“I am not saying that all of those posts will go, but that helps people understand how much money we are talking about.

“Since 2010 we have taken £80m of cuts – that’s 1,500 posts lost.

“We have had to implement change at a faster and more aggressive pace than many other forces.”

Across the force area, many police stations have been shut and sold off, along with other buildings, in a bid to claw back the money.

In Basingstoke, the police station in London Road is set to close, although a new police investigation centre will be built in Jays Close, Viables.

The new two and three-storey building will cover Basingstoke, Winchester, Andover, Alton, Aldershot and Farnborough and will accommodate 350 members of staff.

It is hoped the new base, which was chosen to be built in Basingstoke due to its “excellent road networks”, will allow frontline police officers to resume and patrol their local communities quicker after taking people to be kept in custody to the centre.

Some of the force’s specialist units have been merged with neighbouring Thames Valley, back office functions have been shared with the county council and fire services to save cash, while headquarters staff are on the cusp of moving in to the fire service HQ in Leigh Road, Eastleigh, to save even more.

Mr Marsh said: “I wouldn’t say that what we have done so far was easy. We have protected our neighbourhood teams in a way other forces have not been able to do.

“But if we have to save more, then we will have to consider what we are going to do. That will have an impact on frontline services and I don’t want to shy away from that.”

Mr Marsh, who was appointed chief constable in 2013, won’t be pushed on what services Hampshire police will stop providing.

He refuses to be drawn on the future in terms of police officers responding to concerns for welfare, missing person searches or policing large events like festivals and concerts – or even whether the county’s specialist teams like traffic police or force support unit could be lost or merged. Instead he says he wants residents to be fully engaged and help him make the tough decisions.

“We will definitely have to stop doing some of the things we currently do – absolutely and definitely. There is no doubt that we will have to take that course and I think the public will, and should, be concerned by that.

“I want to talk to people about what they are prepared for us to stop doing,” he said.

Mr Marsh added: “I don’t think there will be any easy decisions to make.”

“We are a service that has always been can-do. We confront and deal with some of the most difficult circumstances that anyone has to deal with, solve problems and we fix them where we can and we want to protect the public from harm and make a difference.

“To therefore accept that some things we feel passionate about we are no longer going to be able to do is a very difficult thing.”

So, when all possible services are being shared, when every building that can be sold has been and when police officer and staff numbers have been cut to the bone, where next?

Could amalgamating forces in the south of England or having one emergency services boss in charge of Hampshire’s police and fire service be the future?

The idea has not escaped Mr Marsh, who says he has watched with interest the developing situation in Scotland which now has a superforce in place.

“We learned from that but if it was that simple we would have done it. It’s not about protecting territory or senior jobs, it is about doing what is right for the public.

“I cannot gaze in to a crystal ball but I do know that I do not have any experience of running a fire service, just as the fire brigade chief would not have experience of leading the police. I think they will always be fundamentally different.

“It has to end at some stage. We have already reduced by 1,500. By 2020 we will have halved our resources.

“We are not broken, not in any respect, but what I am saying is that this is very dangerous going forward.

“There is a limit and we will have to make very difficult decisions, but we will not do that without talking to the public first.

“We do not want people to sleepwalk in to this only to realise the enormity of what is happening when it is too late.”