Councillors have called for a rethink over controversial plans to axe dozens of police community support officers (PCSOs) across Cheshire.

A meeting of Cheshire West and Chester Full Council recently backed a motion calling on the force to reconsider a move to reduce the number of PCSOs in Cheshire from 87 to 27.

Cheshire Police said it would help save £13 million, but also enable it to reorganise its resources to help meet the Government's new policing guarantee – with regular police officers instead being redistributed to neighbourhood policing teams.

But a motion put forward by Cllr Phil Marshall (Conservative, Marbury) called for the plans to be reconsidered.

The motion stated: "How will the allocation of warranted officers across communities address the current sparsity of policing human resources across the wider geographies of rural communities as rural crime continues to rise?

"This council requests that the chief constable reconsiders his decision to reduce their PCSO cohort."

Addressing the meeting, Cllr Marshall told members: "It's not simply a matter of jobs, it's a matter of community safety, accessibility and accountability."

Earlier this year the Government announced its neighbourhood policing guarantee which is aimed at increasing police visibility, as well as tackling local crime and antisocial behaviour.

Cllr Marshall told the chamber: "The neighbourhood policing guarantee is a national commitment to increase neighbourhood officers and PCSOs.

"Its purpose is to restore visibility trust and crime prevention and kept capacity in our communities. That's what residents have told us they want and what residents really need."

He added: "So how does slashing Cheshire's PCSOs from 87 to 27 support this goal? How does it make us safe?"

Councillors subsequently voted to back the motion following a number of amendments.

When the plans were first revealed Chief Constable Mark Roberts said the decision was necessary, despite 'significant efforts' of the force to secure appropriate levels of savings required to balance its budget.

At Friday's meeting of the police and crime panel – a scrutiny body made up of councillors from across the county – police and crime commissioner Dan Price told members the number of officers in neighbourhood policing was going to increase from 251 to 327.

Mr Price, an elected Labour party official tasked with holding the force to account, told the panel: "The precise number of PCSOs as part of that mix is yet to be decided."