SNT Officers have been asked to spend less time on “quality of life issues.”

These include problems where the police may be asked to help but they are not responsible – like dog fouling or overgrown hedges.

Chief Superintendent Martin Hiles said: “We believe the community and other agencies can lead on these issues.

“Our policing core responsibilities are about protecting life and property, maintaining the peace, preventing crime and bringing offenders to justice.”

Officers will deal more with crime but there are concerns that will lead to them getting sucked into office work rather than being in public.

A member of one Dorset residents group told the Echo: “We’ve been told the PCSOs and PC will be used to tackle antisocial behaviour by specific families.

“The result will be less police on the beat and our neighbourhood policing being cut back.”

PC Will Martindale, speaking at the April meeting of Boscombe Chamber of Trade, said officers would be spending less time at public meetings.

“That’s the harsh reality of it,” he said. “We are going to be focusing more on priority crimes.”

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns said: “Issues like rubbish might not be core policing issues but quality of life is still very important.”

Dealing with funding problems

DORSET Police received £169 per resident in 2010/11 compared to an England and Wales average of £189.

The force said for each of the past nine years it has been either the worst or second worst funded per resident.

Chief Constable Martin Baker said in a letter earlier this year cuts mean it must save £18million from a budget of £120million between 2010/2011 and 2014/2015.

The force has cut 284 police and civilian staff so far with a further 274 expected by 2014/15.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns has started lobbying on behalf of Dorset MPs for a change in the police funding formula.