TWELVE officers and six horses are to be axed from the Lancashire police mounted branch to provide more money for frontline policing. The announcement was made after a meeting of senior officers at Hutton HQ.

The underwater search unit is also the subject of a review which is almost certain to result in a reduction of numbers.

Supt Clive Helliwell said the axe meant the number of full time officers would drop from 28 to 16 and the number of horses from 26 to 20.