HAMPSHIRE police chiefs say a shortage of detectives across the county is affecting their ability to fight crime.

About 70 detective constable posts in Hampshire are currently vacant as the force struggles to recruit suitable applicants.

The shortage was revealed at a meeting of Hampshire Police Authority, where members heard how the posts remained unfilled out of about 640 detective jobs across the force.

Director of personnel Maureen Adamson said: "At this moment in time there are about 70 detective constable vacancies throughout the force. We are doing a number of things to alleviate that.

"We are running additional training courses, five were run this year instead of three."

When asked if she thought the problem was impacting in anyway on performance figures, Mrs Adamson said: "I think it has to have an impact but I can't estimate the scale of that."

Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan told the meeting that although the idea of working in CID was often an attractive one because of the perceived idea of the job of a detective, in reality it was very different.

"We have people who aspire to CID. The reality is Hampshire police is demanding more and more from our detectives. We want the right people."

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, a trial scheme is currently underway in Southampton where civilian investigators are working alongside detectives to help with the paperwork and administration load.

The city's CID departments have been trialing the project since July and it is due to be reviewed at the end of the year.

Detective posts have been filled with staff, largely former police officers and people with experience of police work, who have been given investigative powers by the Chief Constable, allowing them to work on cases alongside officers.

Steve Price, chairman of Hampshire Police Federa-tion, has urged the force to invest in training up new staff to fill the shortage rather than rely on a pool of people, such as former police officers that eventually will dry up as a resource.