p> BUDGET cuts will force Hertfordshire to lose 200 police officers unless people are prepared to pay extra council tax.

Hertfordshire Police Authority has just learned its Home Office budget for 20010/11 will be cut by £4.1 million, with further reductions likely in future years, and is launching a public survey today to test opinion before council tax bills, which include sums for police funding, are set.

Hertfordshire's overall government funding for police is about £130 million a year, but, under a new formula, the county will lose more than £4 million to other less affluent areas.

Stuart Nagler, chairman of Hertfordshire Police Authority, said: “We have become used to receiving a good standard of policing in Hertfordshire over the past few years. This good performance has been delivered through effective and efficient management of the force and the availability of the necessary resources to deliver a good service.

“However, over the past few years, we have been using our reserves to cushion the blow caused by restrictions imposed on our Home Office grants. This, together with increased efficiency savings, has meant we have been able to keep the annual increase in council tax to below five per cent over the past five years.

“We now face the certain prospect of central funding being reduced, bringing with it the real possibility of significant cuts to police services over the next three years.

“The authority, therefore, has some very hard choices to make in the next few months.

“ Before we make our decisions, we want to know what the people in this county want from their policing, and what they are prepared to pay for it."

Options under consideration range from a tax increase of 1.5 per cent, with nearly 200 officers lost in the next three years, to a hike of 15 per cent, not only avoiding cuts, but funding an extra 40 officers, although it would risk capping by the Government.

People can give their views online at www.hertspa.org.