THE top-ranking Hampshire police officer has called for clarity on police funding.

Chief constable Olivia Pinkney said it was right that the current debate on police funding was a national one.

Figures show that between September 2010 and 2016, there were almost 19,000 fewer officers on the streets of the UK, but with security worries increasing across the UK after recent terror attacks.

Now, police are preparing for a possible further cut in funding.

Chief constable Pinkney said: “Whatever people think, it is clear that the context for policing has changed and police resourcing is rightly now a national debate. To deliver safer communities we need the right funding.

“Whether that is through a fair national funding formula or through extra funding for policing overall is for others on the national stage to determine.

“If funding remains the same, and despite all of the additional efficiencies we will deliver, there will be a gap starting from the next financial year. For the public that means we would not be able to provide the same services that we do today.”

She said the police in Hampshire would be able to cope with a major terrorist attack.

Home Office figures have also revealed that Hampshire was the second most likely place in England and Wales to be attacked.

The county is ranked 14th for overall crimes committed from the 2016 figures.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Michael Lane, said that Prime Minister Theresa May’s determination to protect police budgets was ‘very welcome’.

He said: “I have always recognised that a fairer funding process for us all nationally would deliver greater and fairer resources in my area.

“My demand of the chief constable was that she reviewed her plan to ensure it created space for a welcome government review of the national funding formula, a formula that was nearly universally agreed to need significant updating to reflect a fair, equitable distribution of resources.”

Hampshire Police Federation chairman John Apter has warned that the cuts in funding have pushed the police close to breaking point