Cumbria Police bolstering the thin blue line

Cumbria Police. Credit: ITV Border

Cumbria Police are looking to recruit more than 100 new police constables.

The recruitment drive comes just months after the force had been threatened by budget cuts that Chief Constable Jerry Graham warned would make policing the county "unviable".

Cumbria Police has made savings of around £20 million over the past five years, and last October the force was facing further cuts of £26 million.

However, there was a surprise reprieve in Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement, when he announced there would be no further immediate cuts to police budgets.

Now, the force wants:

  • 108 Police Constables

  • 20 Police Community Support Officers

  • 36 Special Constables

PC Tarrandeep Khehra Credit: ITV Border

PC Tarrandeep Khehra has worked as a constable in Workington and Whitehaven for the past two and a half years.

He says the unpredictability of the job is one of its big appeals, and is advising others with an interest to apply:

The recruitment drive is being heralded as a positive turnaround, given that as recently as October 2015, Chief Constable Jerry Graham issued a stark warning about the future of policing in Cumbria:

Concerns about the future of the force do remain, and in the next twelve months police funding formulas will be reviewed again - this could lead to more proposed budget cuts.

But Cumbria's representative from the Police Federation union still views the recruitment drive as positive news:

The 100-odd officers Cumbria Police want to recruit will replace retiring officers, to keep the force's numbers stable.

Cumbria Police are asking anyone interested in applying, to visit their website, to find out more.

Watch Greg Hoare's full report here: