HAMPSHIRE Constabulary is to receive a funding boost to tackle serious violence throughout the county.

The force will be allocated £1.26 million from the latest set of grants issued by home secretary Sajid Javid.

In total, Mr Javid will distribute £12.4 million, from a £100 million Serious Violence Fund, to 18 different police forces across the country.

The money will be put towards additional officer deployments, improved intelligence, and short-term operational actions such as targeting habitual knife carriers.

The home secretary last week chaired his latest chief constable roundtable to discuss how forces are using additional government funding to tackle serious violence.

Mr Javid said: “I’ve been doing everything in my power to ensure we have the strongest possible response to tackle violent crime and law enforcement plays a key role in this. This money means forces can take urgent action, including more officers on duty in the worst affected areas.

“It takes a collective effort to tackle violent crime and I’ll continue to work closely with police and partners to end this senseless bloodshed.”

Hampshire Constabulary will receive £339.2 million as a result of the Police Funding Settlement for 2019/20, including council tax – an increase of £25.1 million from last year when the latest funding injection is also included.

The boost coincides with the force’s plans to recruit an additional 200 officers to bolster the frontline in the fight against crime.

The forces to receive shares of the £100 million of funding are deemed to be in in the worst-affected areas for violent crime.

Other forces which received grants includes Thames Valley, allocated £1.94 million, while the Metropolitan Police had the largest grant of £20.84 million.