MORE than 200 off duty Dorset Police officers are joining a national demonstration against cuts and government policy on Thursday.

The Police Federation has organised the March through London over 20 per cent cuts to spending “and the way officers are being treated by the coalition”.

Clive Chamberlain, chairman of Dorset Police Federation, said: “By the end of this year here in Dorset the sad fact is that we will have lost more than 108 police officers and 176 police staff with more losses to come.

He said the national federation accepted the analysis by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, which said policing could withstand a maximum of 12 per cent cuts.

The government is also planning to privatise some policing roles.