Public opposition to a funding crisis for Gloucestershire police is to hit the Government head-on - thanks to a campaign in The Citizen.

The paper is sending dozens of forms printed in the newspaper to deputy prime minister John Prescott.

They have been printed every day since the Save our Bobbies initiative was launched at the beginning of October.

The campaign has uncovered some terrible personal stories which have been published as hard-hitting articles to highlight what the Citizen calls "critical cuts" facing the county police force.

The Government is conducting a funding review and has five different ways of calculating the Gloucestershire grant - all but one of which would leave the county £3.3m worse off.

The petition to John Prescott will demand fairer funding.

Since the push began, the Citizen has revealed that police can barely afford to put any bobbies on the beat in some of Gloucester's most dangerous suburbs - and proposed new funding could actually cut 178 officers from the force.

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