A top Government minister has denied that a recruitment drive to boost the number of special constables is policing on the cheap.

Speaking in Bradford on the day of the launch of the campaign, Home Office Minister Paul Boateng said it was the job of chief constables to decide on the number of officers employed by a force.

And he stressed that special constables were not seen as a replacement for officers, but to stand alongside them.

Mr Boateng was at Bradford Central police station yesterday to look at innovative schemes set up in the city to recruit specials from ethnic minority backgrounds.

There are 700 special constables in West Yorkshire and it is hoped that figure will increase to about 900.

In the Bradford district, 18 per cent of specials are from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared with nine per cent in West Yorkshire. Half of Bradford Central's specials are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Roger Benn, chairman of West Yorkshire's Police Federation, said: "The danger of cutting back on the recruitment of regular officers means the temptation is there to utilise the special constabulary. That cannot be right.

"The Government is side-stepping the real issue of cutbacks."

The West Yorkshire Police's budget for the next financial year has risen by just over two per cent, which is below the rate of inflation.

Mr Boateng said: "The Government has found £1.24 billion for the police over the next three years. I have every confidence in West Yorkshire's chief constable and the police authority that they will continue with the current levels of policing in Bradford.

"The specials will supplement the excellent work with support and innovative schemes in the city.

"Specials are not replacing police officers. They stand alongside them."

In Bradford special recruitment schemes are being run by the Toller Lane division, Odsal division and Central police station.

Bradford Community and Race Relations Officer, Inspector Martin Baines said Bradford's was an example of good practice in recruitment.

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