LANCASHIRE Police Authority (LPA) chair - Baroness Henig - claims there could be "serious problems on the horizon" if government plans to enforce council tax capping go ahead.

The Baroness spoke out as authority members continued efforts to lobby parliament over proposals to limit council tax increases across the UK to just three per cent in 2005/6.

It is estimated that a council tax increase of six per cent is needed to maintain current policing despite Lancashire Constabulary being named as one of the top four 'best value' forces in the UK.

And - according to the LPA - regular surveys carried out on 4,000 local people since 2001 revealed that "a clear majority are prepared to fund improvements to the force by paying additional council tax".

But, if the plans go ahead, the force could be left with a 15 per cent funding deficit, which means they could be more than £7m out of pocket.

Baroness Henig says this will result in "substantial" budget cuts and may lead up to the loss of up to 50 'bobbys on the beat'.

Baroness Henig said: "Both the authority and the force have worked hard to ensure that the public are getting the police service they need.

"Not only have we got 80 more officers on the street but we are constantly working on ways to improve other aspects of policing from response times to better community relations.

"But that could very well be undermined by this unilateral decision by the Government.

"It actually flies in the face of what the local community in Lancashire want - which is continually enhanced policing.

"Nobody wants to lose officers off the street.

"But, if these budget cuts are forced to go ahead, we will be in the situation where we have to put trained police into civilian 'desk job' roles.

"There's no point pretending that there are not serious problems on the horizon - the repercussions of these proposals are not going to benefit anybody."

The 17-member LPA have now joined forces with other UK police authorities to voice their concerns before Government ministers confirm capping measures in the next fortnight.

Baroness Henig added: "Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze a realistic level of funding from the government and, in the process, avert a potentially serious problem."