The number of police officers is set to fall further in Cornwall and Devon with the blame focusing on budget cuts, however "no decision has been made" on how many posts will be lost.

The Home Office announced in December that Devon and Cornwall Police would have £9m less to spend, a larger cut than expected.

At the time Tony Hogg, the Police and Crime Comissioner said the "substantial" cut would mean that the force would need to "explore issues such as reducing officer numbers, closing police stations".

Adding: “We have been working very hard to prepare for these cuts by developing our work on a strategic alliance with Dorset but it is clear that we cannot lose 5% off our budget every year, for the next four years, without policing in the future being significantly changed.

“It means we must make lots of difficult choices to protect as much front line service as possible but these continued Government cuts leave us no choice but to explore issues such as reducing officer numbers, closing police stations and finding new ways for the public to deal with the police, including more automated systems. 

“None of these choices are easy and many are unpalatable to both us and the public.

“But it is now impossible to absorb this level of budget reduction without an impact on the service provided to the people."

The cut could mean a loss of over 100 police officers and the number of PCSO's being cut by half.

In a response to a question from the BBC about the number of officers who could be lost, Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said: "The force needs to make £29 million of savings over the next four years, having already saved over £50 million.

"The BBC is right to identify that to fill such a funding gap it will be necessary to see a further sizable reduction in police staff and officer numbers.

"These are likely to be significant, being mindful that we've already reduced by nearly 1,000 people along with further reductions in our capital budget.

"However, it is important to point out that at this time no decision has been made on what the specific reductions will be."

A spokesman for PCC Tony Hogg told the BBC: "The commissioner will shortly ask his scrutiny body, the police and crime panel, to agree a 1.99% rise in the council tax policing precept to uphold officer numbers.

"Millions of pounds of extra savings will need to be made. No decisions have been made yet about where these will be, although, regrettably, police officer and staff numbers will inevitably reduce."