AROUND 360 jobs will be lost at Thames Valley Police as the force tries to save £55m by March 2015.

A report into police cuts, published yesterday by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), reveals about 120 of these will be police officers.

It comes as reduced hours at police stations around the county were introduced yesterday.

The report, entitled Policing in Austerity: One Year On, says Thames Valley Police aims to cut 120 of its 4,430 officers by 2015.

It will also lose about 50 of its 500 PCSOs and about 200 other staff members from its 3,000-strong workforce. All figures in the report were rounded to the nearest 10.

The cuts are in response to the Government’s 20 per cent funding cut to the police service by 2015, announced in March last year.

Chief Constable Sara Thornton reassured councillors in April last year that “boots on the ground” would not drop, despite the cuts.

Yesterday’s report confirmed around 90 per cent of Thames Valley Police’s officers will be in frontline roles by 2015, compared to 81 per cent now.

HM Inspector of Constabulary for the Eastern region, Zoe Billingham, said: “Thames Valley Police has a history of bringing down costs while increasing its efficiency.

“As a result, it is in a good position to achieve its savings target by 2015 – and may even exceed it.”

Last year’s report from the HMIC found that from March 2010 to March 2015, the force planned its officers would drop from 4,434 to 4,034, staff from 3,000 to 2,541 and PCSOs from 500 to 453.