Fifteen custody assistants could be made redundant as the police force looks to cut spending.

UNISON told the Watford Observer the 15 members of staff could lose their jobs as the force started a consultation on sharing services between Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

It will affect people working in Hatfield and Stevenage after the custody suite in Watford was closed.

And the reforms are part of a merging of units including the firearms unit, the sharing of control rooms and crime recording teams, which are expected to take place between April 2016 and March 2017.

The cells in Shady Lane, Watford, were closed in August and senior officers made the decision to close them for good in December.

Now the management of custody suites across the three counties will be brought under the same roof.

But each individual force will still be responsible for staffing and protecting people.

Shift structures will be changed in the custody suites to allow the force to reduce the workforce, a union representative told the Watford Observer.

A union spokesman said: “They are looking to bring in new shifts and reduce the number of staff working there.

“We are vigorously opposing this.”

Police chiefs approved plans to cut spending by £10m across the three forces by sharing information, custody, ICT and control rooms.

Chief Superintendent Jane Swinburne has been appointed as the head of BCH public contact and a management team will be hired to run it.

The forces’ human resources departments will also be merged.

Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd said: “I am pleased that we have made substantial progress on collaboration over the last year and look forward to picking up the pace in 2016.

“I expect the new collaborated units to improve on the already excellent service we offer to the public and to deliver it more efficiently. The savings we make at the same time will ensure that we can deliver on the pledge I have made to protect local policing in Hertfordshire.”

Hertfordshire Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Dunn added: “At a time of continued budget pressures collaboration produces efficiencies as well as savings whilst helping to protect front line policing and effective policing services for our communities.

“It also enables a platform for enhanced expertise in specialist areas and enhances resilience across the three forces.”