POLICE forces across the UK say their budgets are being squeezed to the detriment of non-essential services by the relentless rise in fuel prices. Their protests come as the momentum builds for Tuesday's, 'dump the pump' day, with the Conservative Party adding its voice to the calls for reduced fuel prices.

Northamptonshire Police said it was working to cut expenditure on its vehicle fleet as part of a Government directive for all forces to make 2% savings on their budgets.

'We are having to consider the type of vehicles we're using and the numbers and the rising price of fuel is an additional pressure on our efforts to find the savings,' said a spokeswoman.

Gloucestershire Police are trialling liquefied petroleum gas powered vehicles in a bid to contain spiralling fuel costs. The force is running two unmarked and two marked Vauxhall Astras in the Forest and Wye Valley areas on a 12-month assessment which could see LPG-powered cars being given a full-time role on the 320-vehicle fleet.

Bob Hood, head of fleet management at the constabulary, said: 'We have a limited budget and with petrol prices soaring we have had to try and find alternative ways of saving money. The four cars have been in use now for about a month.'

Gloucestershire Police's fleet covers 3.5 million miles a year and thanks to the lower price of gas the force is expecting to make savings on fuel expenditure of around 50% compared to running on petrol alone.The Conservative Party will this week launch a campaign against 'Brown's new stealth tax', followed up by an action day.

The 'dump the pumps' campaign has been organised by two salesmen over the internet and calls for motorists to boycott fuelling stations on Tuesday (August 1) and every subsequent Monday.