THE borough's politicians have lined up to complain about the withdrawal of 19 police officers from local streets.

All parties joined forces to express regret that Chief Constable Michael Todd has moved frontline officers to other Greater Manchester districts because Bury is "over-staffed".

However, there was disagreement over the wording of the motion a council meeting earlier this month. The Tories wanted it to go further, blaming a "budget shortfall" in the Police Authority. They also wanted to demand more funding from the Government to boost police numbers and cut red tape.

"Wythenshawe might need more police, but that doesn't mean Bury needs less," said party leader Roy Walker, citing increasing fear of violent crime and youth misbehaviour.

But Labour member Derek Boden accused the Tories of stirring up fear for party political reasons, saying it was double standards to ask for more money when they were proposing budget cuts. "It's a nakedly populist, right-wing attempt to hijack the issue for short-term gain - the product of a fevered imagination brought out by the illusory prospect of power."

This was described as "quite a performance" by Tory councillor Sam Cohen, who is Bury's representative on the Police Authority. "There is no increase this year in the 313 officers in Bury and the 8,065 in Greater Manchester. The chief constable says he wants a force of 11,000. Is it sensible to spend money on 20,000 Police Community Support Officers rather than 12,000 police?"

Council leader John Byrne said the precept put on council tax bills by the police had risen by nearly 50 per cent in the last three years.

"The Chief Constable has not been able to expand in the way he wanted to, that's not the same as making cuts," he said. "Also, people cannot whinge about taxes and then want more police: they don't come cheap."