A Dorset Police union leader has predicted it will be “Christmas for criminals” if proposed government cuts go ahead and up to 40,000 officers across the country lose their jobs.

Clive Chamberlain, the chairman of Dorset Police Federation, said: “There is no doubt that budget cuts of 25 per cent will have a cataclysmic effect on the service we provide.

“Policing disputes during what is set to be a winter of discontent is going to put even more pressure on our workload.”

His warning came after Home Secretary Theresa May was urged to ensure that officers feel valued as she oversees the most radical reforms to policing in half a century.

Mr Chamberlain added: “Cuts in service are inevitable if the government are to slash budgets.

“Many police forces are privately considering just what they are going to have to stop doing in order to continue to be able to deliver front-line policing. There are some tough times ahead.”

The chairman of Hampshire Police Federation John Apter said the “dark days of policing” have arrived.

He added that the 6,700 staff had “known for several weeks things look very bleak for the force” which has revealed plans to axe 1,400 posts – 20 per cent of its workforce – including police officers.

Forces are facing Government cuts of 25 per cent with Hampshire reducing its budget by £70 million (25 per cent) over the next four years.

The job losses will see redundancies, positions left unfilled, redeployments and voluntary redundancies.

A Dorset police spokesman said “an in year budget reduction of £1.1 million” is “being managed through a project to deliver policing services to the county in a more streamlined way while ensuring the demands on the frontline are met.”

He added: “This will involve reductions in both police and police staff posts across the force to be achieved by not recruiting externally.

“This project is on-going and the exact effect on specific areas is currently unknown.”

Meanwhile Cambridgeshire police could lose more than half of its staff and more than a third of its officers with Chief Constable Julie Spence warning that 40 per cent cuts could lead to a policing “Armageddon.”