The Government has shelved controversial changes to the funding of Cumbria police after admitting it got its sums wrong.

It means the county force has been granted a stay of execution when it comes to one huge chunk of planned cuts – proposals which the Times & Star had campaigned against.

The combined effect of what was initially predicted to be a loss of £9.5 million from a change to this formula, added to a separate set of expected cuts, had prompted drastic warnings.

Cumbria’s chief constable Jerry Graham warned crime could go up, jobs would go and officers may no longer pound the beat in the wake of planned cuts.

This situation took another twist at the weekend when the force realised it could be hit with even bigger cuts than initially thought after the Government got its calculations wrong.

These errors have now prompted Police Minister Mike Penning to apologise and any changes have been postponed.

The Times & Star campaign has been backed by 14,471 people, with the petition delivered to Downing Street.

County crime commissioner Richard Rhodes welcomed the announcement.

He added: “I welcome that the funding formula will now be consulted upon properly and robustly and will ask to be part of any discussions about the future of the formula.

“However, the financial situation in Cumbria remains challenging.

“We wait with some trepidation the announcement about future budget cuts under the comprehensive spending review, to be announced on November 25.”

Chief Constable Jerry Graham said: “I am pleased that the Home Office is delaying the changes in the funding formula at this time. The policing budget is still unclear while we await the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.

“The work we have done recently outlines the massive operational impact that significant level of cuts would have on policing services in Cumbria.

“Previous proposals would have left policing unrecognisable in the county.

“We continue to support the police and crime commissioner to feed back the implications that further reductions in our budget would have on policing the county effectively.”

Martin Plummer, chairman of Cumbria Police Federation, said: “It gives us an opportunity to take stock and move forward.

“It can’t be overestimated the anxiety that this has caused to police officers and police staff.

“We will continue to impress upon the Government that future cuts of this nature will be of great detriment.”

Mr Penning said the Government “regrets” the mistake and apologised to MPs and the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Answering an urgent question in the Commons, Mr Penning said: “Within this process I am sad to say there was a statistical error made on the data that has been used.

“We recognise this has caused a great deal of concern to police forces around the country. I and the Government regret this mistake and I apologise to the House.

“I also apologise to the 43 authorities that I wrote to during the extended consultation period as part of the funding formula review.”

Mr Penning said the Government would seek the views of police and crime commissioners and national police chiefs before proceeding with the changes.

He insisted it was important to arrive at a fair and transparent formula matched by demand and supported by the police.

Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz, who asked the urgent question, described the situation as a “shambles”.

The Labour MP said: “This entire process has been described by police and crime commissioners and others as unfair, unjust and fundamentally flawed.

“What started off with good intentions is rapidly descending into farce.

“To call it a shambles would be charitable.”

The combined effects of the two sets of cuts, taking into account pressures such as inflation, had initially left police chiefs fearing cuts of £26m. The revised calculation meant the cuts could reach £31.8m.