HAMPSHIRE police have come under fire after it was revealed they spent more than £300,000 on tea and biscuits last year.

New figures suggest the constabulary’s workforce of around 6,000 people spent more on refreshments than the Met Police, the largest force in the UK with around 50,000 employees.

Hampshire’s figures were the second highest in the country with officers drinking and eating their way through £308,000 worth of tea, coffee and biscuits.

It comes days after Hampshire police chiefs were criticised for employing special constables to help detectives with major crimes and six months after the force moved to axe more than a 100 jobs by not replacing staff to help save £27m over three years.

The costs were investigated after police in Essex found they were able to save £7m a year – the cost of 221 officers – by monitoring and cutting the amount spent on pens and paper every year.

Geoff Crowe, chairman of Hampshire Police Federation, said the figures show the police could be saving money without affecting the front line.

“It would be interesting to know whether that money goes on feeding officers attending training courses or whether it is spent on corporate events.

“I know the force has done a lot of work trying to find savings and they have had some success. But, as Essex police have shown, there are loads of areas where you can squeeze money out.”

A spokesman for the Hampshire Police Authority, which regulates police spending, said the figures were of “great concern”.

“As Hampshire are eight times smaller than the Met force it does cause great concern. We work hard to keep costs down and these figures give the public the wrong idea about what we do,” he said.

The report also included figures on stationery, which saw Hampshire spend more than half a million pounds on supplies.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance hit out at the figures and said changes were needed to spend more on frontline services.

Political director Susie Squire said: “While no one minds our boys in blue having a well earned cup of tea and a biscuit, what these figures show is that it is a lot of money that should be spent on other things.”

But Hampshire police defended the numbers, and say they include the price of sandwiches whereas the Met Police figures were solely for tea and coffee.

They also state that as not every police force in the country gave out their figures, they cannot be compared effectively.

A spokesman said: “We are committed to make the most of our resources and want to ensure the communities we serve get the best value for money while protecting frontline policing.

“We operate in a very tight funding environment. However, despite this, the force came in more than £2m under budget in 2008/09 because of its attention to cost. The Hampshire total of £308,800 for catering for meetings includes £75,000 spent by other agencies.

“The total also includes £41,000 spent on feeding trainee police officers at our training school and £36,000 on catering for training for special constables.”