Fire officers may be called on to help the police by dealing with non-injury traffic accidents.

The idea is being discussed as a way of maximising Dorset police time for fighting crime as budget cuts begin to take an effect on police front line services.

The fire and rescue service may also be used in the hunt for missing people and for dealing with reports of people who have collapsed behind closed doors.

Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said that, if agreement could be reached, it would save hundreds of hours of police time. Fire officers are already carrying out some of the roles on behalf of the police and ambulance service in the north of the county, including being the first to respond to medical emergencies.

Speaking at the county’s police and crime panel in Dorchester on Tuesday Mr Underhill said the tasks were ideally suited the fire service who were equipped to deal with broken down and crashed vehicles and had the skills, first aid training and equipment to search for missing people, alongside other agencies.

“There are hundreds of non-injury accidents every day where the police just end up directing traffic or helping move vehicles,” said Mr Underhill.

He said that talks with the fire service were taking place but transferring some duties would come at a financial cost, although overall it should result in a saving of police time.

The committee earlier heard that un-funded pension and pay increases for the coming year, imposed, but not funded by the Government, would cost the police more than the £12 annual increase in its share of the council tax, which was likely to lead to cuts to many routine jobs currently carried out by the police.