Hampshire police vows to fight on for increase in allowance amid 'guns blazing' warning

Officers were awarded an increase of £700, which brings the allowance to £1,800 – but it could be £2,000 – which has left officers asking why they didn’t get the full amount.

Zoë Wakefield, federation chair, said: ‘Obviously officers are very grateful for the extra £700. But the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said she cannot afford the full £2,000, which would have come to £500,000 in total. She said the only way she could afford it would have been if she reduced the number of police officers or PCSOs.’

Donna Jones, the crime commissioner for Hampshire, said: ‘If it wasn’t a sufficient increase, we would have been going out all guns blazing, criticising the PCC. But she’s increased it by £700 and we have to be grateful for that – and the majority of officers are grateful for that. But it is a little bit frustrating.’