HAMPSHIRE Constabulary has announced that 200 jobs – including 100 police officer jobs – are to be axed by the end of the year.

The force says that the cuts will be achieved by removing some officers from non-operational roles rather than the frontline.

The proposals are set to go before Hampshire Police Authority in February.

Hampshire Constabulary said it will not recruit any new officers for the frontline until at least the end of the year.

They said that the situation has come about because of rising fuel costs and a lack of funding from the Government.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall confirmed that 100 officer posts were being lost and said that the cull was expected to be completed thanks to a non-replacement policy in time for the new financial year.

The county’s police authority charged with running the force’s finances, expects to hear the latest on the situation at a meeting next month.

Mr Marshall added: “Hampshire Constabulary faces a significant financial challenge in the coming year. We are considering a wide range of options and proposals in order to meet this challenge.

“Part of the focus of these changes will of course be on protecting frontline policing and we are already looking at freeing up more police officers’ time to undertake operational duties.

“To put this in context we already have 40 vacancies within the force and based on previous years we may well meet our target through natural staff turnover before the end of 2009.

“We cannot rule out redundancies but we will explore all options before taking such a decision.”