The police want to be classed as a metropolitan force

The Nottinghamshire Police Authority discussed the shooting of the 64-year-old shopkeeper who was shot dead on 30 September by robbers in Arnold.

Steve Green, chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, admitted that a series of murders and major incidents had left force resources stretched.

The authority highlighted the huge imbalance in resources between Nottingham and other police forces with a similar crime rate

Slim resources

The authority wants to be classed as a metropolitan force like Merseyside or South Yorkshire - and to hire hundreds of extra officers.

The meeting heard that Nottinghamshire Constabulary has 2,435 officers and in the last year dealt with 161,404 offences.

In comparison, Merseyside has nearly double the number of officers at 4,252 and has dealt with around the same number of offences, at 163,166.

Mr Green said: "I am confident that I can resource inquiries into serious crime and I am confident that those inquiries will achieve results."

I can assure people that the police are out there working their socks off John Clarke Nottinghamshire Police Authority

John Clarke, chairman of Nottingham Police Authority, said: "With the awful shooting in Arnold last week along with various shootings in the past year and post office robberies and the Iraqi street fight in September - and it is simply draining our resources."

"We are calling on the government to provide further funding to help the force tackle the volume of serious crime that takes place within the county.

"Personnel, equipment and the budget are constantly being stretched and overworked and the authority does not feel that the entire financial burden should fall upon the local taxpayers."

Mr Clarke added: "There is a lot of concern about policing in Nottingham - but I can assure people that the police are out there working their socks off."

Police officers arrested four young men in connection with the theft of a blue Gilera Runner scooter used as a getaway vehicle by the robbers who killed Mrs Bates.