FRONTLINE officers will not be sacrificed to balance the books of Britain's most controversial police force.

The chief constable of under-fire Cleveland Police insisted savings which need to be made in light of a £7.3m budget black hole will not hit main services to the public.

Force chiefs have set up rigorous budget monitoring after an Audit Commission report highlighted a "spend, spend, spend" culture which led to the funding deficit.

Yesterday, Chief Constable Sean Price broke his silence at a meeting of Cleveland Police Authority when he made it clear the force would not be placed in the same perilous situation again.

Mr Price reassured the public that the number of officers on the beat would not drop as a consequence of the enforced savings.

He said: "I am satisfied that these savings can be achieved without affecting our core responsibilities of protecting the public and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

"I share the Commission's concern at the way reserves have been allowed in the past to drop to such a low level. That would have left us in a perilous position had we faced a major crisis. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

"The public has a right to expect better and I assure them that I will do all in my power to ensure such a situation never arises again," he said.

The funding row resulted in authority chairman Ken Walker being rejected by Middlesbrough Council's Labour group as its representative for next year, but he retains his position until the annual meeting in July.

The Audit Commission report identified 16 key recommendations that needed to be implemented to safeguard the financial future of the authority.

Redcar and Cleveland councillor Bill Clarke said he hoped those responsible for the financial problems would be brought to book.

He said: "We have got 16 recommendations to recognise these weaknesses but we could quite easily say someone somewhere has got away with it."

Speaking after the meeting, Middlesbrough councillor Joan McTigue said she was unimpressed with the outcome.

She said: "The entire meeting felt rehearsed and stage managed. There was no probing or trying questions, the members just accepted the findings - maybe that's how they got in this mess in the first place.

"For me there are still many questions that need answering for the people of Cleveland who deserve a top quality police force."