MORE than 170 off-duty Gwent Police officers will join a protest march in London tomorrow to highlight the consequences of government cuts.

Gwent Police has to save £34 million by 2015 and Chief Constable Carmel Napier has already started making cuts, including announcing the closure of 17 front desks at police stations across the area.

In February Gwent Police Authority also approved proposals to retire officers after 30 years’ service to reduce the number of officers from 1,453 to 1,333 by 2015.

Organised by the Police Federation of England and Wales, the protest aims to highlight the consequences of such cuts.

Jeff Mapps, chairman of Gwent Police Federation, said: “The reality of the cuts to policing is really beginning to bite. We are now seeing the compulsory retirement – redundancy by another name – of many frontline and experienced police officers.

“Over the next two years we will lose around 200 police officers. We are witnessing across the country the privatisation of core policing roles.

The government needs to be realistic about the outcome of severe cuts. We cannot afford to compromise public safety.”

Gwent Police Federation says police are “extremely angry” about the way they are being treated by the government.

The march starts at Millbank at noon, passing the Home Office, Parliament Square, and Whitehall (Downing Street), finishing at Waterloo Square.