FINES for minor offences are helping to fund a £9.6 million police savings plan.

Police bosses are expecting to hand out £800,000 worth of fixed penalty notices in the next year.

Tory MP Nigel Evans said the move was an "attack" on middle England.

However Lancashire Police said it needs to make the savings to meet targets set out in its efficency plan.

Police bosses say they need to use money generated from on the spot fines to prevent them from having to make cuts from front line services.

Union bosses praised the force's police authority for its ability to "manage" the budget effectively.

They said other forces were facing huge cuts with some being forced to axe bobbies from the beat.

The plan, which was presented to the Lancashire Police Authority's Planning and Resource committees, includes £1million in savings made from HQ budgets; £2.6 million from the Operational Review, nearly £1million from civilianisation and over £2 million from restructuring across a wide range of areas.

Geoff Roper, chairman of the authority's resources committee, said: "Assessments in the past three years have shown Lancashire Constabulary to be among the highest performing forces in the UK.

"Despite this the force received one of the lowest council tax contributions in the country.

"We are not putting targets on police to say that £800,000 worth of penalty notices need to be issued, that figure is just an estimation. We are proud of the fact that no front line services will be effected."

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "They seem to be approaching this from the wrong direction.

"My fear is some people will be getting off with more serious crimes and given fixed penalty notices just to cover police costs and meet expected targets.

"Setting the police against the public is wrong.

"This is tunnel vision thinking which is hammering middle England. Fixed penalty notices should be a means for the police to make savings, it should be raised through taxes."

Blackburn MP Jack Straw added: "Fixed penalty notices should only be issued where they are justified and people have a right to appeal against them.

"They have proved to be a very effective measure against low level crime and disorder order.

"It's important that the revenue raised, from people who are disorderly, should go to help the community, provided they are issued in proper circumstances."

Earlier this year households in Lancashire were asked to pay an extra £10 a year in council tax to fund changes to the way police tackle major crime and terrorism.

Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said his force faced significant new challenges and that a recent efficiency drive had "squeezed out everything" from the existing budget.

He said the force needed investment to deal with the challenges properly.