Kingston police are cutting overtime payments for civilian staff, getting rid of mobile phones and asking officers for their pagers in a bid to cut costs.

The force said it could reduce its £400,000 police officer overtime spend and shave £25,000 to £30,000 from the money it paid civilians to work evenings and weekends.

Jobs done by civilians include front counter staff, marketing and communication, statement taking, investigation support and preparing papers for the prosecution.

Surbiton police station could also be sold in the future, although it is not part of the proposals from Kingston police’s management team, led by borough commander Martin Greenslade.

The non-pay budget, which does not include pay for police officers, has reduced to £2.6m for this year, falling for the fourth year in a row, from £3.35m in 2007-08.

Acting Superintendent John Pendleton said: "We need to get ourselves into a position where we do everything we possibly can do to maintain frontline officers.

"If we get a car accident or are chasing a burglar across a roof we are not going to stop at 5pm."

Kingston said it had saved £8,500 by removing 52 land and mobile phone lines and was the first in London to review the use of civilian staff.

Kingston and Surbiton MP Edward Davey, who campaigned for increases in police officer numbers before he joined the Government, said: "No one wants to see a reduction in police officer numbers.

"Nobody wants to see a reversal of hard-fought progress. I will be asking some tough questions if that happens."

He said all public services should look for as many efficiency savings as possible to protect frontline officers.

He said the Met’s budget would be a matter for the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to decide.

But a spokesman for the Mayor’s office said: "It is the Government that is controlling the budget cuts for policing."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Authority, which holds the purse strings for the Met, said the organisation was unwilling to speculate on cuts ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review later this month.

Surrey Police has announced plans to close police stations, including Esher, Cobham, Walton and Molesey, and has cut 50 jobs including 35 frontline officers.