LANCASHIRE police are heading towards a multi-million pound budget crisis, according to financial experts.

The county's police authority is busy preparing its spending plans for the coming years and a long term financial strategy is also being drawn up.

This year the authority is planning to spend nearly £182 million on policing the county over the next 12 months.

Once inflation is taken into account along with the pay settlement the spending allows for no new growth.

Finance experts say the settlement has put a strain on Lancashire's force.

This year Lancashire police force got an increase of 1.9 per cent compared to the national average of 2.67 per cent.

And police spending is dependant on how much Lancashire County Council asks for in council tax. If the council tax increase falls below the expected 10 per cent then further cuts will have to be made from police budgets.

Force chiefs have pledged that all savings will come from headquarters and the front-line divisions will be protected.

But accountants are warning that unless the position changes then tough times lie ahead for the force.

A five-year spending plan has been drawn up and unless the picture changes £5 million worth of cuts will have to be made over the next financial year.

The following three years would see further savings of £9 million at a rate of £3 million every 12 months.

The police authority's finance and general purposes committee was meeting today to discuss the crisis.

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