The amount of Police Community Support Officers could be slashed in Cheshire, mere days after the Police Precept was announced to rise.

The mooted plans were raised by Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer, despite a Macclesfield South councillor warning of an fiery response from the public.

Cheshire's top cop is considering cutting the number of PCSOs by slashing £1.3m off that part of the budget and using the cash to fund other police officers.

PCC John Dwyer stressed there would be no redundancies and losses would be through 'natural wastage'.

He said the cash would pay for other officers.

But councillors at Friday's meeting of Cheshire's police and crime panel were concerned after learning a PCSO review is currently being undertaken. Cllr Kenneth Critchley (Warrington Borough Council, Con) asked: "Does it imply there will be fewer PCSOs?" Mr Dwyer said the 122 communities model set up by previous commissioner David Keane is in the plan. "The chief constable, however, has got a view that he wanted more police officers and so the PCSO review, which is still ongoing but we anticipate will reduce numbers of PCSOs through natural wastage, will result in an increase in the police establishment," he said. He later added: "I think we're currently running at about 200 PCSOs in the county and the feeling is that we don't need 200. But there'll be no redundancies, it will be natural wastage. "I think the figure the chief constable raised with me the other day was about 160, but it's about actually moving resources around so that we actually re-invest the savings we make in other parts of the organisation to tackle the issues that we know need to be tackled." Cllr Critchley told the PCC: "Where I live I'd say the PCSOs are hugely visible, police constables less so, so I definitely support the retention of the PCSOs providing that vital comfort to the community." Panel chair Evan Morris asked: "That trade off, as it appears to be, between PCSOs and full time police officers, was that made public at any stage during the consultation period of the budget?" Mr Dwyer replied: "No, this is still a review and until we've got to the end of the review, until we actually get the final figure, it won't be a public discussion. "But the public at large are asking to see police officers, not PCSOs in particular, although I fully accept and acknowledge the value of PCSOs. "They're very important to my policing plans for the community of Cheshire and that's why we're committed to maintaining the 122 model which we guarantee a PC and a PCSO for each one of the identified communities." Cllr Paul Findlow (Cheshire East, Con) said: "I hope there's no fait accompli about the future of PCSOs." The Prestbury Councillor said there needed to be a proper consultation because it is a major policy issue and should be treated as such. Macclesfield Cllr Laura Jeuda (Cheshire East, Lab) told the commissioner: "I think people are going to be very disappointed and possibly very angry if they do lose any of the PCSOs." Mr Dwyer said the Cheshire public could rest assured 'the policing will be there for them when they need it and I'm keen to ensure that the public will start seeing a lot more police presence on our streets'. The discussion came during the debate on the commissioner's plans to increase the police precept by 4.4 per cent, adding £10 a year to a band D council tax payer's bill. This was voted through and the commissioner said this would enable the force to recruit an extra 120 officers. Contrary to the belief of some - PCSO's are paid members of staff. You can learn more about them on the Cheshire Police website. See Also: New Tesla Model 999 - Police trial Model 3 Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our FREE Friday weekly newsletter? It contains each week's top 10 Macclesfield news stories, and one EXCLUSIVE article? 1200 of you have signed up already. Simply enter your email address in the shaded box below or on this link. Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 30-40 stories a week for our town. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.