GOVERNMENT inspectors have warned that Dorset Police may not be able to sustain 'effective' policing amid further budget cuts.

Less than three weeks after the county's police and crime commissioner Martyn Underhill warned that more cutbacks are on the way for the force, the police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy programme report compiled by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has raised fears of further staff losses.

It says that 140 police officers and 134 police staff are set to lose their jobs in the next three years to keep up with the savings - but that that will still leave £4.6m to be found.

Dorset is one of eight forces in England and Wales found to be in the "requires improvement" category when inspectors considered the question, 'How efficient is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?'

"Significant" cuts have already been made by Dorset Police, and there are fewer police officers per head in the county than in most other forces, the report said.

However, there will be more to come in the next three years, it is warned.

In the report, inspectors said: "HMIC is concerned that Dorset Police does not yet have clear plans in place to make these spending cuts.

"Nor is it clear what impact this level of cuts will have on the force's ability to continue to meet its demand in the future."

The force faces an anticipated 'funding gap' of £4.6m by 2018/19, but there is a "high degree of uncertainty in relation to future income and expenditure", report authors said.

Between 2015/16 and 2018/19, budget cuts of 11 per cent - or £14.7m - are forecast.

And between March of this year and March of 2018, it is predicted that police officer numbers will drop by 11 per cent - double the six per cent predicted on average in England and Wales.

However, the cost of policing per head of the population in Dorset is just £82 - comparable to an average of £115 for members of the public in other force areas.

The authors of the report also said plans for beyond 2015/16 are "heavily dependant" on the "prompt and effectively implementation of the strategic alliance with Devon and Cornwall Police".

Despite this, inspectors said: "HMIC has found little evidence of detailed combined workforce planning taking place between the two forces.

"Dorset Police has very limited financial contingency in place to cushion against any shortfall in savings achieved. There is a clear risk that, should there be any delays in the strategic alliance plan, the savings needed by Dorset Police will not be achieved in the timescale needed."

And the report continued that force plans "do not clearly show how a significant proportion of required savings over the next three years will be achieved" as financial plans are based on government grant reductions of 3.9 per cent for 2016/17.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said: "Although [Dorset Police] has a strong track record of having achieved all the savings required to date and is working hard to improve its position through an alliance with Devon and Cornwall Police, its long-term financial position might increasingly make it difficult to sustain effective policing."

It says the savings already made have not impacted on the force's ability to respond to emergency and urgent calls.

However, it says, "it is often at the cost of other important police work, since many officers in non-response roles (such as neighbourhood and investigation teams) are being used to support response officers at times of peak demand.

"This is resulting in large backlogs in their own work (such as criminal investigations and crime prevention)."