Lincolnshire's Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner welcomed pledge of 20,000 extra officers by new PM Boris Johnson

New Prime Minister and Tory party leader Boris Johnson.

Mr Skelly branded the news, "hugely exciting" for Lincolnshire and a "welcome boost" after a decade of reductions but said they will push for even more.

He said of the new Government: "It shows that they recognise the limitations put on policing under falling budgets. It’s very early days and we don’t know most of the detail yet: such as what the distribution will look like across policing, what exactly we will get in Lincolnshire, how and when we will make it happen, and many other questions. Clearly, any increase in officer numbers for us is good news."

Mr Skelly explained: "We receive roughly a one per cent share of total Government funding for police forces in England and Wales, so we could have a significant number of additional officers over the next three years. That is fantastic, but we will push for better. For the last five years we have been at the bottom of the funding pile, so increasing everyone still leaves us at the bottom of that pile. We hope that Government will take this moment to stop and reflect on how Lincolnshire Police can better protect our communities with a fairer distribution of funding. We believe this will be an opportunity for them to address the unjustifiable differences between us and other forces in the country."

Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Bill Skelly.

He said they will continue to fight for fairer and safer funding for Lincolnshire Police and look forward to sustained and significant growth.

He said: "I believe this is a wonderful opportunity and I am really looking forward to the challenge of making it happen as quickly as possible to deliver a safer Lincolnshire and a better supported workforce."

Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, added: “The Chief Constable and I have worked together to put Lincolnshire Police on a stable footing for exactly this kind of opportunity.

"Despite all of the challenges that have been faced, we are well placed to deliver increased numbers, without any reduction in standards, as quickly as possible.”