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Last Updated: Sunday, 18 April, 2004, 11:38 GMT 12:38 UK
Probation staff protest at cuts
Probation officers in South Yorkshire are angry over cuts to staffing budgets, claiming it is putting the public at risk.

Staff held protests at David Blunkett's constituency surgery in Firth Park, Sheffield on Saturday.

They say the government unexpectedly withdrew more than �300,000 of funding already allocated to South Yorkshire.

The regional cuts were made to make up for overspending by the national probation service.

Probation officer Caroline Cosgrove was one of the protesters.

She said the cut backs have serious knock on effects: "Job vacancies are not being filled and the result of that is that probation staff cannot see offenders with the frequency they would like to see them.

"The consequence of this is that we are not providing the level of protection for the public that we would like to."

No-one from the Home Office was available to comment about the situation on Sunday.


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