POLICE officers in Oxfordshire “won’t be able to do the job they currently do” as their budgets are slashed, it has been warned.

The Thames Valley Police Federation (TVPF) has warned that officers will be too stretched due to Government cuts of up to 20 per cent across policing nationwide.

Former chief constable of the force Sara Thornton said recently police may not be able to attend burglaries due to the cuts, and on Tuesday Manchester’s most senior officer, Peter Fahy, said police may not be able to investigate missing person reports.

The TVPF, which represents police officers across the county’s force, has now claimed this and other “non-crime related activity” might be affected amid further Government cuts.

Permanent secretary Clive Benson said: “Missing persons reports and mental health aren’t crime, but police spend an inordinate amount of time investigating it.

“The Government constantly quotes crime statistics, which are going down, using that as a reason to make cuts.

“But what [Theresa] May doesn’t realise is that crime is changing, with things like cyber crime and child sex exploitation being far more important to the public.”

Between April 2013 and March 2014 11,787 people were reported missing in the Thames Valley region.

TVP was heavily criticised in the Operation Bullfinch Serious Case Review for not noticing patterns of grooming when the six girls went missing about 400 times.

Since then a Missing Persons Panel has been set up by Thames Valley Police and social services at Oxfordshire County Council to look at young people who have gone missing more than once in 90 days.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Michelle Campbell said: “We are looking at the current demands for our services and how we might reduce them by working with our partners and communities.

“This includes working with individuals and our partner agencies to prevent people from going missing in the first place.

“Thames Valley Police is committed to keeping our communities safe and providing the public with an emergency service they look to in their hour of need.”

Mr Benson said: “This issue [cuts to police budgets] was not highlighted during the election and I think that if the public feel passionately about it they should write to their MP.”

Mr Benson said he couldn’t speak on behalf of the police force, but added: “[People] should not be worried that changes will happen overnight, as they won’t.”

“The police will still do their job and, as I understand it, there are some more robust services in the county since Bullfinch.”