FEWER jobs will be cut at Thames Valley Police because of a £4m Government windfall.

The one-off grant has been awarded to the force on the agreement that there will be no increase to the police precept in this year’s council tax.

It was feared that 819 posts would go over four years as Thames Valley Police sought to balance the books, but this will now be reduced to 535.

Plans made before the government grant was announced suggested 255 police officers would be lost from the force, but now 96 will be lost.

Civilian police staff posts lost have been reduced from 564 to 439.

Chief Constable Sara Thornton said: “The news isn’t as bad as we thought.”

She added: “Every time we consult the public they tell us they want visible policing.

“The line from the very beginning has been to maintain the number of police officers who do neighbourhood policing and neighbourhood patrols.”

She said intelligence officer and civilian investigator posts would also be saved, but cautioned that after the staffing reductions the force “will be eight per cent smaller, but I don’t think we’ll have an eight per cent reduction in workload.”

Graham Smith, chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, welcomed the news but warned that the outcome of the Winsor report which could see a reduction in police pay introduced, was yet to be revealed.