POLICE are being asked to hand out parking tickets after traffic wardens were taken off the street to man the front desk of a police station.

The move is designed to help cash-strapped Cleveland Police save money and recover from a crippling £8m shortage recently discovered in its budget.

Last night, the force defended the shake-up in Stockton, and said there were no plans to do the same in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and east Cleveland.

A spokeswoman said: "It is a better use of resources to put a traffic warden into the front desk role than it is to take a police officer off the street to do the job."

The wardens will work at the front desk at the Church Street station between 8am and 10pm, while the reception will be covered by officers through the night.

Meanwhile, plans to recruit 60 support staff over the next financial year have also been put on hold while the force battles to balance its books.

The hole in the force's budget was discovered in early February and sparked three investigations -by the Audit Commission, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and an internal inquiry.

It also resulted in the force's finance chief being suspended, and prompted calls for the resignation of the chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, Councillor Ken Walker.

An interim report was expected to be published by the Audit Commission last week, but it is now believed it will not be produced until next week at the earliest.

Chief Inspector Paul Rider, chairman of Cleveland Police Federation's joint branch board, said: "Traffic wardens have got fairly limited parameters to their role, and police officers have always been able to issue fixed penalty tickets.

"If a patrolling officer comes across an obstruction, dangerous parking or a car on double yellow lines or zig-zigs at a crossing, it is quite proper to issue a ticket."

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor said: "With a debt of £8m, every department will be asked to put into place changes that could ensure the force gets back into the black.

"They must, however, work very hard to make sure we do not take police off the streets."