HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith has been urged to press the Government for more funding for Cambridgeshire police to recruit 100 more officers. The call came from force Chief Constable, Julie Spence and Cambridgeshire Police Authority chairman Keith Walters w

HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith has been urged to press the Government for more funding for Cambridgeshire police to recruit 100 more officers.

The call came from force Chief Constable, Julie Spence and Cambridgeshire Police Authority chairman Keith Walters when they met her at the Houses of Parliament.

They told the Home Secretary they had fewer police officers per head of population than most other forces at a time when the county's population continues to grow at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in the UK.

Mrs Spence said: "The Home Secretary listened carefully to the arguments we were making and asked detailed questions about our case.

"We made it abundantly clear that we felt Cambridgeshire was being short-changed and hoped that situation would be reversed. The Home Secretary said our funding requirements would be considered.

"While it remains to be seen whether this will result in more funding for front-line policing - and we await, with interest, the outcome of our grant settlement which is expected to be early next month - I think we are more likely to get a better settlement having made the case than if we hadn't made it all.