THE number of police officers employed by two North-East forces fell last year, contrary to the national trend.

Cash-strapped Cleveland saw its number of officers fall by almost six per cent from last March to September, a loss of 96 officers.

Durham saw a reduction of six officers in the same period.

However, nationally there were an extra 1,200 police officers on the streets in England and Wales.

Yesterday, Cleveland Police said the reduction was not related to financial problems that saw a £7.3m deficit discovered in the budget plans for 2004/05.

The force also pointed out it had recruited 80 more police community support officers, after getting a grant from the Government.

These are uniformed civilian officers who do not have powers of arrest, but support police officers in things like dealing with anti-social behaviour.

Deputy Chief Constable Ron Hogg said: "Staffing levels are never constant. Police numbers always fluctuate as officers retire or leave. There are currently 1,704 police officers and we will beat that number by the end of March.

"Civilian staff numbers include 80 police community support officers CSOs appointed during that year. That situation is reflective in other forces."

The Home Office figures were published as the spending plans for the force's £115m budget were given the backing of the police authority.

The force is trying to get back into the black after falling into financial crisis - which it started tackling last year with stringent cost cutting.

Chief Constable Sean Price, said: "This has been a difficult year for us but we have absolute commitment within the executive and authority to put the force on a sound financial footing."

Durham Police had a 12 per cent increase in civilian staff from March to September 2003, and a small drop in police officers.