SCORES of police community support officer jobs have been saved from the chop.

West Mercia Police has pledged to scrap old plans to axe 49 PCSO roles across the force area between now and 2015.

The move, revealed by police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore during a recent meeting at County Hall, will mean that the current figure of 233 PCSOs is maintained.

The move comes despite 140 police officer jobs being axed as part of a plan to cut £21 million from the force’s budget.

The PCSO pledge was welcomed during a meeting of the watchdog-style police and crime panel, despite some concern that it was attempting to paper over cracks.

Mr Longmore said it was an important measure in helping free up police officers and that the 49 jobs saved would be next reviewed in 2015.

At the moment, PCSOs work on shifts until 10pm, but the review is looking at whether they can be more flexible.