ONE thousand Lancashire police jobs are under threat amid feared cuts of £45million.

The county's Police Federation said it had been told this would mean 400 officer posts being lost, more than 10 per cent of the 3,700 total.

Remaining job losses would come from back office roles among the 2,000 bank of police staff, the federation said.

Officers have described the cuts as 'frightening', saying 'we're going to have to decide what areas of policing we are not going to do'.

Police chiefs would not confirm the jobs breakdown, but said they faced making 1,000 losses in total over four years to reach the savings target.

The savings are being demanded by the coalition Government, which has told each department to target 25 per cent budget cuts.

'Front-line' officers will be protected, the force said.

It is thought the reductions will be made by not replacing people who retire.

But John O’Reilly, chairman of Lancashire Police Federation representing rank and file, said: “That’s all very well, but it affects the numbers on the front-line.

“The Chief Constable has said we are looking at probably 1,000 to 1,200 people over the next few years.

"600 to 700 would come from police staff.

“It’s a double whammy for officers, because the level of support we have will be reduced, and so will the numbers of officers.”

It comes on top of councils axing funding for Police Community Support Officers because of separate cuts to town hall grants.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to stop paying for its share of the borough’s 22 PCSOs - about a third of the total cost - because of lost grants.

Burnley Council is expected to follow suit.

This would create another funding black hole for Lancashire police to fill for the PCSOs to remain on the streets.

Yesterday Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, warned it was inevitable numbers would fall.

But he insisted forces could still 'do more' despite the cuts.

However, Mr O’Reilly insisted: “We are going to have to decide which areas of policing we are not going to be able to do.

"Levels will be down. They are already doing an organisational review, and they will have to look at things like the numbers of vehicles, helicopters and CID officers.

“I understand the financial situation is dire, but these are people who protect people.

"The level of cuts this government thinks is sustainable is frightening."

In a statement, Lancashire Police confirmed it was facing 'significant cuts' from April as a result of 25per cent cuts to the Home Office budget, most of which goes on the police.

A spokesman added: “We have been preparing for cuts for some time and to date we have identified savings of around £10million, but following the budget announcement it has become clear that this won’t be enough.

“The precise amount of savings we will need to make won’t be known until the Comprehensive Spending Review in October but we believe that we may have to find around £45million over the next four years.

"This could mean the prospect of reductions in police officers and police staff of up to 1,000 people.

“The challenge for the constabulary is to come through the next few years with a reduced budget and fewer people while still delivering high quality policing services to our communities.”

Lancashire's MPs have clashed over the feared £45million police budget cuts.

Conservative Andrew Stephenson, Pendle’s new representative, insisted he would put the police ahead of party loyalty after George Osborne’s emergency Budget demanded 25per cent cuts in the Home Office spending.

Mr Stephenson said: “Lancashire Police have had a recruitment freeze already, and I know that’s affected the front-line.

“If these cuts do have an adverse impact I will be making very strong representations to ministers to fight our corner.

“At the General Election it was quite clear that neither ourselves nor Labour committed to protecting police funding.

“We said they would have to face cuts like the rest of the public sector.”

Mr Stephenson’s Tory colleague, Rossendale and Darwen’s Jake Berry, claimed it was not 'realistic, sensible or responsible' to assume the 25per cent cuts meant a reduction in front-line officers.

He added: “We all know of instances where public bodies have gone well beyond their core duties.”

Mr Berry blamed the last Labour Government for the drastic measures needed to reduce the deficit.

He added: “We are not doing this for fun.”

Blackburn Labour MP Jack Straw, a former Home Secretary, said his party had pledged there would have been no reduction in front-line officers.

He added: “I fully accept the need for economies, but 25 per cent cuts are not necessary.

“The impact on the police will be serious. That will in turn impact on the safety of communities.”

And Hyndburn Labour MP Graham Jones added: “There’s a real risk now that policing is going to go back 10 years and that crime is going to go up.

“The coalition needs to understand that policing is one of the core services, if not the core service, that the public expects.”