HAMPSHIRE’S army of police community support officers – dubbed ‘plastic policemen’ – cost taxpayers nearly £156,000 for each crime they solved last year and £64,000 for each fine handed out.

Figures obtained by the Daily Echo reveal the county’s 330 PCSOs were paid a total of £7.8m, an average salary of £23,634.

But questions have been asked about their cost effectiveness after they detected just 50 crimes and handed out 122 fixed penalty notices last year.

Last night the Hampshire Police Federation branded the figures “shocking”

and called for a review, while a spending watchdog said the figures exposed PCSOs as “nothing but a PR stunt”.

It comes as police forces are facing cuts in their budgets of up to 25 per cent under next month’s Government spending review.

PCSOs are expected to be an early casualty of the review.

Hampshire Chief Constable Alex Marshall has already warned staff that up to 1,400 police jobs – a fifth of the force – would be axed and police stations could close as police chiefs struggle to save £70m over the next four years.

Daily Echo: For a video of the top stories in today's Daily Echo, click the front page.

Unlike regular uniformed officers, PCSOs have no powers of arrest although they can hand out fines for minor crimes such as littering.

The number of full-time PCSOs in Hampshire has swelled in the past three years from 264 to 330.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal they detected 58 crimes in 2007/8, 90 in 2008/9 and 50 in 2009/10. In 2007 they handed out 213 fixed penalty notices but the number fell to 124 in 2008 and 122 in 2009.

A spokeswoman for the TaxPayers’ Alliance public spending watchdog said: “These figures show the sad truth about PCSOs. They are nothing but a PR stunt and are no replacement for bobbies on the beat. With no powers of arrest and incredibly low productivity, it is hard to see how these PCSOs are value for money for taxpayers, or indeed even useful.”

John Apter, chairman of the Hampshire Police Federation, said while the main role of PCSOs was to provide a visible reassurance to the public he said the figures were “shocking”. He questioned the costs of PCSOs compared with regular uniformed officers.

Chief Inspector Jeremy Patterson dismissed the criticisms.

He said: “The role of a PCSO is to provide a visible presence on the streets and to engage with the community that they serve in. Therefore to judge their value in relation to the cost per crime detected or fixed penalty notice issued is not appropriate.”