TRAFFIC police fear dozens of posts could be shed during a major shake-up in the York area.

Almost 140 officers currently deal with everything from pile-ups to speeding and drink-driving on the county's 6,000 miles of road.

A greater proportion of the county's police officers are working on traffic duties than the national average - more than ten per cent compared to less than eight per cent nationwide.

Now the force is reviewing whether North Yorkshire needs this number of traffic policemen, at the same time as it is assessing the impact of divisional boundary changes on road policing.

The force intends scrapping the current seven divisions and replacing them with three "super-divisions".

And a trunk road unit that currently deals with traffic on the A19, A64 and A1 could be disbanded, with all traffic policing organised in future by the three divisions.

One officer told the Evening Press that he firmly believed the county needed more than the national average of traffic policemen, because the rural county had so many miles of roads to cover.

He understood the force had considered shedding up to 35 posts, and said the prospect of cutbacks had caused morale to plummet.

But Chief Inspector Dave Short, who is conducting the review, said it was not yet clear whether any reductions would be needed.

"It may need reducing and it may not," he said. "I have a number of options to look at."

He said it was "very unlikely" that front-line traffic officers in patrol cars would be cut in number, hinting that, if cuts were made, they would be in the more senior ranks.

Dave Stockport, North Yorkshire spokesman for the Police Federation, said there was an obvious need for traffic policing to be looked at, and the federation had been asked to give its views.

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