CONCERNS have been raised that police will pay out more than £1.4m to pay for officers’ overtime in 2009-10.

Estimates put forward by Thames Valley Police Authority predicted an outlay of £1,453,000 in Oxfordshire, the equivalent of £1,700 for each of the 857 sergeants and constables in the county and £23,000 more than originally budgeted for.

The force refused to release the previous year’s figure for comparison.

Thames Valley Police Federation chairman John Grant, whose organisation represents rank and file officers, said: “It is not surprising overtime is so high because we are so under- resourced in terms of officers per head of population, compared to other forces.

“Until that is rectified, officers will continue to have to take overtime.”

According to the Home Office, Thames Valley ranks 34th out of 43 forces across the country for the proportion of officers to population. It has 198 officers to every 100,000 people.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Such a large overtime bill suggests serious flaws in the allocation of resources.

“In an emergency service some overtime is inevitable, but it becomes a problem if you are using overtime to plug gaps due to understaffing. This is expensive and also represents a lot of officers being overworked.”

Chief Supt Brendan O’Dowda, the Oxfordshire police commander, said the force would not comment on the scale of overtime payments.

Chief Con Grahame Maxwell, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead member for finance and resources, says all forces should monitor overtime payments, after a Government report recommended national police savings of £545m.

Thames Valley is looking to save £40m over the next three years.

Mr Maxwell added: “Overtime reflects the realities of modern policing. It should always be monitored by chief officers and police authorities for cost effectiveness.”

Police authority chairman Khan Juna said: “In reactive organisations, such as the police force, overtime is always going to be part of ongoing costs.

“The authority is concerned about all expenditure, including overtime, and monitors this on a regular basis across the force.”