BOLTON'S civilian police staff are to meet for crisis talks after plans were announced to axe 224 jobs -- and cut the opening hours of the town's police stations.

Workers including traffic wardens, front desk staff, caterers and cleaners plan a union meeting in Bolton next week to discuss cash-cutting proposals which will leave only one of Bolton's police stations open to the public outside office hours.

If the Greater Manchester Police budget reduction is approved, 224 civilian jobs will be lost throughout the county and many more staff will have salaries slashed due to loss of working hours.

The proposals -- designed to save £6.5m -- will mean only Bolton's main town centre station will open late into the night while others including Farnworth, Middle Hulton, Castle Street, Astley Bridge, Westhoughton, Little Lever and Horwich will be closed to residents outside office hours.

And more jobs cuts could also follow after it was revealed that the force may need to save a further £12m over the next two years.

Today Unison leaders, representing 2,200 civilian staff, including more than 200 from Bolton, said they planned to mobilise members through a series of meetings and lobby MPs in a bid to stop the cuts being approved at a police authority meeting next month.

Unison regional officer Tim Carter described the move as "appalling" and warned "public confidence in the police would be completely undermined."

He said: "At the moment we are not ruling anything out, including strike action."

One police support worker in Bolton, who asked not to be named, also told the BEN that news of the cutbacks had come as a " bitter blow".

She added: "No one knows whether their jobs are safe or how much money we're going to lose. The public will also miss that face-to-face contact."

GMP Chief Constable David Wilmot, who gave the go-ahead for the cuts, was attending a police conference in America yesterday when news of the budget reduction broke.

Yesterday Greater Manchester Police issued a three line statement confirming his decision.

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