A cost-cutting proposal by Cheshire Police to axe up to 60 PCSO roles would be a 'false economy' and 'a mistake we cannot afford to make', a councillor has said.

Cllr Julie Smith (Handforth, non-grouped) has written to her fellow 81 councillors on Cheshire East urging them to fight to keep their PCSOs (police community support officers) in the borough's towns and villages.

Her rallying call comes as the force launched an internal consultation this week to save £13 million over the next four years through reducing PCSOs and redistributing warranted police officers into neighbourhood policing teams.

Cllr Smith said: "PCSOs are the eyes and ears of our communities.

"They are neighbourhood policing which isn't just about crime-fighting, it is about building confidence in the police service, making residents feel safer and making them feel that there is someone looking out for them.

"To suggest that warranted officers can take the place of PCSOs is extremely ill-advised."

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the people of Handforth know their local PCSO and he knows them.

"I can't speak highly enough of him," she said. "We know he's there for us."

Cllr Julie Smith. (Cheshire East)

Cllr Smith said PCSOs carry out essential work that cannot simply be absorbed by already overwhelmed warranted officers.

"They build valuable relationships with residents who trust their PCSOs and feel confident reporting issues to a person they know and trust," she said.

"Without PCSOs, intelligence will dry up and problems which are usually sorted by prevention will escalate into crises that require more resources.

"Removing PCSOs does not save money, it shifts the costs elsewhere and leaves our residents feeling vulnerable.

"Which warranted officer will recognise one of our most vulnerable residents – the elderly lady suffering with dementia, the young adult with learning disabilities – and know exactly who to contact to ensure they get to a place of safety as soon as possible?

"Our PCSO has this knowledge."

She said they also provide an important link with young people who trust them and share intelligence to keep local communities safe.

"You cannot buy the experience and knowledge our PCSOs provide and we need to fight to keep them in our towns and villages," said the Handforth councillor.

On Friday (21 November), police commissioner Dan Price was quizzed by the Cheshire police and crime panel about the force's controversial proposal.

Mr Price said the number of officers in neighbourhood policing across the county was going to increase from 251 to 327 and there would be a named PC or PCSO for every ward.

He said no decision had yet been made, stressing the internal consultation had been started by the chief constable who has operational independence.