THAMES Valley Police is planning to move away from manned front counters at police stations in the region.

Instead, they are encouraging the public to use digital technology to report non-urgent crime.

"This means that staff can do their jobs out on the streets," explained Chief Constable, Francis Habgood. "We are introducing smart phones which means their office is out on the streets than back in the police station."

Thames Valley Police has slashed its costs by £70 million over the past five years, and expect to make another £15.6 million of savings over the next financial year from a total police budget of £382.7 million.

That will mean further job losses with the Chief Constable predicting the loss of 100 police officer posts in the region over the next three years, alongside a couple of hundred support staff and up to 70 community support officers.

However, he explained that some of the cost-savings will be re-invested into some priority areas such as child sex abuse and domestic abuse with more officers recruited to those investigation units.

Thames Valley Police had made £550,000 of savings from closing the front counters at some police stations, which paved the way for using digital technology to interact with the public.

Chief Constable Habgood revealed they had surveyed 10,000 people, and one in ten would be more comfortable reporting non-urgent cases online.

"We will never replace a 999 emergency situation with a web chat," he insisted. "That would be inappropriate.

"But imagine a case where you want to report an incident which is non-urgent, such as you've had your car broken into or damaged.

"At the moment we would expect you to call 101, we would take your details over the phone and put them into our crime system. We will then have a conversation and probably visit you. Depending on forensic opportunities, we might send a forensic examiner.

"But that first bit of interaction, where you give your personal details, could be done online. You can the book an appointment where we can send someone to talk to you. That is a better and more effective interaction, allowing our operators to concentrate on those calls where people are vulnerable."

The Chief Constable added that they would be working closer with partner agencies, and Thames Valley Police had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Fire Service where some police could in future be based at fire stations.

"We will still have the traditional means of contacting us, because not everyone will be comfortable and not every case is appropriate for digital channels," he added.

"But these moves will open up greater access with more choice for the public."