THE first wave of police cuts are set to hit Merseyside’s anti-yob team, control rooms and horse patrols in a bid to save more than £13m in the next six months.

Seventeen departments are under threat or will see staff reduced once government budget cuts are imposed next month.

Merseyside’s Chief Constable told the Daily Post he and the Police Authority – which holds the force purse strings – would “do everything we can to safeguard frontline policing” but job losses could be inevitable when faced with a four-year budget cut of around £73m (25%).

The first wave of cuts are only proposals at the moment, but are set to be ratified within the next week.

Merseyside’s Anti-Social Behaviour Taskforce, much-heralded when it was launched in 2006, will be cut completely, with 50 officers offered the option of a new role elsewhere within the force.

All the warranted police officers affected – up to 160 – must be found alternative employment because they cannot legally be made redundant.

When officers join up, they take up “The Office of Constable” and so technically are an independent legal official rather than simply an employee.

Civilian workers, such as Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and those in back offices, can be let go.

The demise of the ASB team will save the force more than £2.5m a year.