LANCASHIRE police is recruiting for 70 new PCSOs to fill gaps in neighbourhood teams across the county.

The force says there are a ‘large number’ of vacancies following the recent review of neighbourhood policing.

It also comes on the back of 50 new officers being hired at the end of last year as the police look ahead to a busy 2012.

They received 500 applications.

The new community officers, who are paid by the force but have limited powers, will come from current employees or those who have already been through the application process.

There are 11 vacancies in Eastern division and 11 in Pennine.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Cooke said: “There are a large number of PCSO vacancies across the constabulary for a variety of reasons but these are not new posts and no new funding has been made available for them.

“The majority of funding for PCSOs comes from central Government and local partners and, because of the rules surrounding this funding, if vacancies are not filled by the end of this financial year, that funding may be lost.

“This, along with the fact that the constabulary remains committed to the valuable role PCSOs play in communities, means it is vital that we fill these posts as soon as possible.”

The force has previously said it would cut 800 police officer and staff posts as part of a four-year plan to meet a 20 per cent budget reduction by 2014/15.

A recruitment freeze had been in place for two years.

Recruiting from within cuts down the time it takes to get fully-trained PCSOs on the frontline.