Dorset Police is facing a funding gap to meet the overtime bill for its No Excuse campaign.

Figures presented to Dorset Police Authority show the force spent £173,000 more than budgeted on overtime for the road safety initiative.

The overtime bill is funded by income from the Driver Awareness Scheme, which is offered to drivers as an alternative to fines.

But the money brought in by charging for the course was £165,000 less than expected.

A report blamed this on the number of posts left empty following voluntary redundancies.

Work is going on to reduce the projected shortfall, the authority was told. But the force is on course to exceed its target for reducing its overtime bill excluding No Excuse and major operations, the figures reveal.

The force was asked to save £300,000. The county was on course to beat the target by £166,000, a report to Dorset Police Authority said.