London salaries lure best officers from rural forces

Chief constables are demanding "transfer fees" of £10,000 for each police officer poached by rival forces.

This penalty payment scheme has been drawn up in response to an increasing "brain drain" of trained officers from provincial forces to the Met, severely depleting police numbersand leaving chief constables without the resources needed to fight increasing levels of crime.

Last week, officers from the Met had to be drafted in to assist Cambridgeshire Police in their investigation into the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman

Peter Neyroud, the new chief of Thames Valley Police, backed by the chief constables of Surrey and Hertfordshire police forces, has confirmed that he is lobbying the Government to introduce the fee system. This year, Thames Valley Police expects to lose nearly one third of its officers. More than 250 officers have already applied to leave and a further 400 are understood to be considering a transfer. This compares with a loss of 156 officers in 2001.

The Government is looking at measures to centralise policing in Britain in a bid to cut crime rates. This comes as the Home Office is already understood to be considering creating a dedicated task force similar to the FBI to handle high-profile cases that are beyond the resources of small or rural police forces.

Forces outside London such as Thames Valley, Hertfordshire and Surrey find their officers cannot afford the high house prices in these areas. Many are lured away by the Met's higher salaries. The top rate of pay for a police constable outside London is £28,000 a year, but the average price of a family house in Hertfordshire is at least £200,000, more than seven times their salary. In comparison, Met salaries are £6,000 higher.

The police federations of Hertfordshire, Surrey and Thames Valley have put forward an alternative scheme to transfer fees. Their proposal is that officers who stay are rewarded with a staggered loyalty payment.

Thames Valley police federation said the situation was "desperate", and that the force faced a retraining bill of more than £15m as officers looked to forces in the South-West and the North, as well as the Met, for jobs."The principal drain is to the Met," said a spokesman. "Housing has been unaffordable for too long."

Alan Kemp, chairman of Hertfordshire police federation, said that the force no longer had enough experienced officers to train probationers. "There is no doubt that this has and will continue to impact our crime figures," he said, adding that he had evidence from colleagues that many were considering joining the Community Support Officer scheme because the pay is better.

* John Denham, the Home Office Minister, has announced that chief constables will be allowed to issue Community Support Officers with CS spray and handcuffs. Under the new Police Reform Act, six forces will be able to give CSOs powers of detention for a two-year pilot period.