FRONTLINE policing in Basingstoke will not be affected by cuts to Hampshire Constabulary’s budget.

That’s the view of the county’s top cop, after a plan to slash £20m from the force budget for 2011-12 was agreed. It now stands at £314million.

The plan, rubber-stamped by Hampshire Police Authority on Tuesday, will see more than 160 police officer posts axed in the coming year, although frontline posts will be safeguarded until at least April 2012.

Over the next four years, 300 posts are likely to be axed.

The main saving next year comes from cutting 79 “supervisory” roles, from any of the ranks above constable, to save £4.1m.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall told The Gazette: “If you remove the bosses then the risks go up, but I’m faced with a choice.

“We want to preserve local neighbourhood teams on the beat, we want to preserve emergency response officers and we want to preserve the number of local detectives.

“I have to make my cuts somewhere.”

He said that by removing officers from “supervisory” roles, they will focus more on frontline policing and focus on problems facing Basingstoke, such as drug-dealing.

That issue was highlighted last month by Judge Keith Cutler, the Recorder of Winchester, who said the town was “plagued” by London-based drug dealers.

Mr Marshall said: “Police in Basingstoke are the most successful in our force in tackling drug dealers. They have an excellent record in catching them as they come in.

“I know what Judge Cutler is saying and his fears. It is a threat but bear in mind I am not reducing the number of detectives and emergency response officers.”

Other cuts agreed on Tuesday include the axing of 82 vacant police officer posts, saving £3.45m, scrapping unfilled police staff roles, saving £1.1m, and reductions in overtime, saving £779,000.

The authority also agreed to freeze the police’s share of council tax, meaning that taxpayers living in a Band D home will still pay £146.25 for policing in 2011-12.

The freeze also means the force will receive £2.5m from central Government.

John Apter, chairman of the Hampshire Police Federation, representing officers, said that he had mixed emotions about the budget.

He said: “On the one hand, I am reassured that the Chief Constable has given his assurance that the visible frontline of policing will be protected until 2012.

“However, policing is so much more than the visible frontline. It goes far wider than those officers the public see on the street.

“These are dark times for policing and this is just the start.”