The Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Dr Timothy Brain fears police funding to be announced on Thursday will not be enough to maintain policing standards locally.

Tomorrow he is due to meet with several Gloucestershire MPs, including Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown in Westminster to share his concerns about the expected police funding settlement.

He said: "The Comprehensive Spending Review announcement made a few weeks ago clearly signalled a much lower level of Government grant for all aspects of policing, both nationally and locally, over the next three years.

"We will know in the next couple of days exactly what Gloucestershire will receive in terms of Government grant and we are very concerned that it will be difficult to maintain the high standards of policing we have provided in recent years," he said today.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with MPs and start our consultation process over the budget and policy plans for 2008/09."

He added: "Police forces do not receive the same amount of grant, either in total or pro rata, and we are concerned that we will not receive sufficient to maintain standards considering our wide range of responsibilities, from involvement in the most serious crimes including terrorist offences to major events such as this year's floods and Neighbourhood Policing."

Members of the public in Gloucestershire will also be consulted before the Police Authority makes budget and Council Tax decisions in February.

Stroud MP David Drew is scheduled to have a private meeting with the Dr Brain and Police Authority chairman Rob Garnham in January.

See this website for updates later this week