PUBLIC safety is being put at risk in Oxfordshire because of cuts to policing budgets, forcing officers to abandon traditional work, it has been warned.

The Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents officers, has said police will be forced to make “impossible”

decisions about what they can and cannot do. It comes as the federation launches its #MuchMoreThanCrimeFighters campaign today, to raise awareness of the impact of the cuts.

Chairman Graham Smith said: “We risk solely becoming an enforcement agency and a reactive police force, rushing from job to job.

“This is not scaremongering – more than 80 per cent of police work is not related to crime – so as police numbers fall, so does our ability to carry out those traditional duties that the public rely on.

“What about visible patrols, both on our streets and on our vast road network? Looking for missing people? Policing pubs and clubs? These are all roles undertaken by our officers.

“With huge reductions to our funding, something has to give, we simply can’t carry on as normal.”

More than 650 police officers and staff posts across Thames Valley Police could be axed over the next three years.

The force needs to save almost £22m by 2017/18, with a budget deficit of £11.7m in 2016/17 and £10.2m in 2017/18.

Mr Smith said: “How can our hardworking police force continue to protect the public with so few resources?”