DORSET'S top officer says frontline PCs are "exhausted".

Speaking at a public meeting last week, Chief Constable James Vaughan said he will focus on improving morale after a difficult few years for the force.

"[Officers] are really tired," he said.

"They've been through the mill. I have asked more and more and more of them with less and less and less resources."

Officers are approaching the point where "they cannot give any more", Chief Constable Vaughan said at the meeting, which took place at the Poole Yacht Club in Hamworthy last Wednesday.

"I've been given some funding to get wellbeing and morale back up," he said.

In November, Chief Constable Vaughan gave an unprecedented warning that his force may soon "no longer be able to provide anything but the most basic services" in the face of its ongoing financial crisis.

"While we remain committed to providing the best possible policing service to communities across Dorset, I am extremely concerned that the stark reality of our current financial outlook means that we may no longer be able to provide anything but the most basic services to the most vulnerable sectors of our community," he said.