Cumbria's crime commissioner is to hold monthly meetings with the county’s chief constable after it was forecast that the force is set to overspend by £1.1m.

But Peter McCall said he was not too concerned that Cumbria police looks set to go beyond its means – adding there were explanations for the financial position officers find themselves in.

A report prepared for Mr McCall revealed that the current forecast of payouts from the force for the year amounts to £108,267,000, with an approved budget of 107,157,000.

Mr McCall confirmed he will meet regularly with Jerry Graham, the county’s top police officer, to discuss the issue.

But he said that certain factors had to be taken into account when looking at the budget to April 2017.

He said: “It’s only around one per cent of the annual budget, but people will look at that and see it’s more than one million pounds.”

He added technicalities had added to the situation.

“Due to a change in the accountancy rules this year, overtime for last Easter is included along with the overtime for this year – so you’ve got two Easters in there,” said Mr McCall.

“When you consider the extra staff that are needed to cover a bank holiday, then that takes us up by around £200,000.”

He added that Cumbria police has also recruited a significant number of officers from other forces, many of whom have been filling specialist roles.

“It’s something that I’m very pleased about,” he said.

“We’ve taken in quite a few transferees and they tend to bring with them a lot of experience and they’re taking on specialist positions.

“When you take into account the salary of a PC who has very little experience and one who has years of experience, you could be looking at a difference of around £20,000.”

Looking ahead, Mr McCall said he intends to hold monthly get-togethers with Mr Graham to ensure that the force is spending within its means.

“I’ve set the budget and I’ve made it very clear to the chief constable that we stay within that budget,” he said.