ESSEX Police may have to sack some staff and close police stations in the district after it was revealed that the force is facing a £45million deficit.

Chief Constable Tim Barker-McCardle said pressure from the Government to find major savings could "potentially" lead to job losses and refused to rule out building closures.

Essex Police's finance and audit committee revealed this week that a budget shortfall of £15.2million is already predicted for next year, and that it could rise to £44.3million by 2015.

New police minister Nick Herbert has also said in a speech last month that “old-fashioned and under-visited” stations should be replaced by bases at community centres and retail outlets as part of attempts to slash the Home Office's budget.

Epping and Harlow Magistrates courts have already been earmarked for closure by the Government after both were defined as being “underused”.

In an interview with the Epping Forest Guardian's sister paper The Southend Echo, Mr Barker-McCardle admitted the future was tough for his force.

He said: “We are an organisation where about 80 per cent of our revenue budget is spent on people.

“I can’t sit here and say there will be no consequence for the total number of people employed by Essex Police.

“Somewhere this has the potential to affect the overall head count of policing in Essex.

“What I’m most preoccupied with at the moment is making sure I am doing all the planning and review work to deliver quality policing in Essex.”

Mr Barker-McCardle said that any decisions about police station closures or changes to opening times would not be made without a “full consultation with the public”.

He added: “We do have a very significant challenge here.

“But somewhere in all of this, there is an unprecedented opportunity to review everything we do and how we do it, to make sure every single penny in our budget in the future is best applied to get the most productivity for the people of Essex.”

The force has already made savings in the region of £17million over the past two years, partly through increased sharing of resources with Kent Police.

It has been widely rumoured that the two forces could merge to save money, although this has been publicly ruled out.

Meanwhile Mr Herbert has said he expects to announce details of police reforms and budgets within the coming months.