A DORSET MP says it's time for the government to 'cut the waffle' and give police more cash.

Richard Drax, who represents South Dorset, spoke on the issue in the Commons on Tuesday.

Labour MP George Howarth argued the government's 2019/20 police grand settlement "goes nowhere near assuring people" that officers are able to keep communities safe.

Mr Drax, a Conservative, then raised concerns about any potential rise in the precept.

"The pressures for next year are even greater and the bottom line, even with a continued and relentless drive in efficiencies, will still see the need to increase the precept for 2019/20," he said.

"The minister has given permission for police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to raise the precept by £24 in 2019/20 but this is a delicate matter and household budgets are already under strain."

He added: "The worrying fact is that unless (there is) more money for the police in Dorset in the mid-term, more frontline officers might have to go and this is unacceptable to me and my constituents.

"Let's cut out all the waffle, give them the assets and the money to get on with the job and keep our people safe."

As reported in the Daily Echo, Dorset's PCC Martyn Underhill is currently consulting residents ahead of a potential £2 a month rise in precepts to fund policing.

He said: “I remain immensely frustrated that the financial burden has, once again, been passed to local taxpayers and it is important that members of the public are under no illusion: this is a short-term fix that barely covers the need.

“The government’s latest funding settlement does not address the considerable, and unfunded, police pension issue, plus training regime and inflationary and pay pressures, all of which have been thrust upon national policing. Nor does it reverse the eight years of austerity that have left Dorset Police with the lowest number of officers since 1981.

“Nevertheless, the flexibility that an extra £2 per month on the precept provides would leave Dorset Police in a much better position than was feared just a few months ago, and the Chief Constable is confident that this would allow him to make improvements in a number of areas of emerging demand.”