Home Secretary Jack Straw's fighting fund to attract new police recruits will attract just 20% of the 5,000 extra officers he promised in its first year, it has emerged.

Mr Straw's political opponents said it was now "impossible" for Labour to meet its manifesto pledge of more officers on the beat, despite his announcement of a �35m aid fund for 2000/01.

At the Labour Party conference last September Mr Straw promised an extra 5,000 officers - on top of the 11,000 normally recruited - over a three year period.

But he was then caught up in a political storm after official figures revealed more than 5,000 officers were leaving the police every year.

The �35m cash injection from April will pay for 1,060 new officers in the first year of the three-year plan with numbers having to nearly double for the next two years to hit the target.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said: "It is clearly now impossible for Labour to say it has met its manifesto pledge to get more police officers back on the beat.

Straw: More money to come

"The new funding announced today is welcome but is no guarantee there will be enough to replace officers lost over the last three years."

Details of the new officers emerged as figures showed a fall in total police strength of 632 in the six months to the end of September 1999 to 125,464.

Mr Straw said the �35m would kick-start the scheme with further money to meet the target available over the following two years.

He said: "The crime fighting fund will drive forward recruitment programmes, supporting forces in their efforts to attract new officers.

"Police numbers have been in decline since the early 1990s. I have listened to the concerns of chief officers, and have taken action to stem this decline."

Forces gave mixed reactions to details of the allocation of new officers - Humberside Chief Constable David Westwood, which bid for 251 officers but was funded for only 74, said it was a "body blow" for the force.

'Blue line getting thinner'

The Police Federation welcomed the extra numbers but said: "We are not convinced that it's enough to ensure there are more officers on the street."

Oliver Heald, shadow police minister, said: "Having already lost an officer a day since Labour came to power, Jack Straw is admitting that at best police recruitment will stand still in the next three years, and at worst will continue to fall at an alarming rate."

He added: "Jack Straw knows that retirement and resignation will continue to outstrip recruitment.

"Under Labour the thin blue line is getting thinner and thinner."