Police force has a hole in its roof as well as its finances

Durham Constabulary, which may have to lose 300 officers to avoid going into the red, is using buckets to catch water dripping from the roof of its Aykley Heads HQ, near Durham City.

The leak is in the flat roof of the ageing building's training block and has resulted in a member of staff being moved.

The dripping could continue for several months, as non-emergency building work cannot be considered until the new financial year begins in April.

A spokeswoman said: "There has been a problem with the training block.The roof has leaked on occasion. It's not a persistent problem.

"No definite decision has been taken about how much repair work will be done.

With an ageing building like this, it's about whether you replace a part of the roof or replace the whole thing.

"Funding for the planned maintenance will be reviewed in the next financial year."

Durham police's water problems stand in contrast to those of the neighbouring North Yorkshire force, which paid more than £28,000 to replace Chief Constable Della Cannings' shower. The cost of the facilities soared beyond original estimates, finally totalling £28,379.

The North Yorkshire force has reserves of nearly £34m.

In contrast, earlier this year the Durham force embarked upon what acting Chief Constable Jon Stoddart called a programme of swingeing cuts to avoid going into debt.

Durham needs to find an extra £10.5m over the next three years, £6m of which is needed in the next 12 months, to avoid having to lose 300 officers - equivalent to nearly a fifth of its total. The force recently banned staff from putting up Christmas lights because it could not afford to have them checked by safety experts.

The Durham police authority also had to re-open applications for the position of chief constable "in the public interest", after being left with a shortlist for the post of only one - Mr Stoddart, who has been temporarily in charge since December last year.