Responding to comments from the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Police that his force is 'on a cliff edge' due to cuts in their budget

Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, said:

"These are astonishingly hard hitting words from a Chief Constable who has been put in an impossible position by the Government. For the Gloucestershire Chief Constable to describe his forces's financial position as on a 'cliff-edge' is a deeply damning indictment of the scale of Government cuts.

"The Chief Constable makes clear the concerns of local police officers are not scaremongering when they warn of the deep damage to the service they will be able to provide.

"The government is imposing a 20 per cent cut with a hidden extra cut because the council tax freeze is not being fully funded for the police.

"The Government must heed the serious warnings from Chief Constables and police officers across the country before it is too late. And MPs need to vote against the scale of these cuts in Parliament next month."