Councils will need to take up the baton to deal with antisocial behaviour and neighbourhood disputes in the wake of swingeing police cuts, it has been warned.

The number of PCSOs on the streets of Southend will be slashed from 25 to just seven, while 28 of the 35 PCSOs working in Basildon will be transferred elsewhere or made redundant.

Newly-modelled “community policing teams” will be created in Southend and Basildon, aimed at protecting people from harm and preventing crime rather than dealing with calls about neighbourhood nuisance and parking disputes.

Essex Police says the team will not deal with “low-level non-policing matters such as long-term neighbourhood disputes, low-level antisocial behaviour and parking issues.

“It will instead will work alongside partners, for example the local authority and Community Safety Partnership, who will address these matters.”

The news Southend Council would need to be dealing with issues like antisocial behaviour in future came as news to council leader Ron Woodley.

He said: “Sometimes antisocial behaviour can extend into other sorts of crime and even physical violence. We will need to understand exactly what the police proposals are. I won’t put council officers at risk by doing what police should be doing.

“They won’t have the training or the equipment.

“We are looking at a £13.7 million funding gap next year alone and a total of £32.4million over the next three years. It’s totally out of the question when we’ve lost 25per cent of our revenue.

“Police must have been looking at this in advance. They knew what was coming and should have planned according as we have done. They need to rethink this and then come and talk to me.”

In Basildon, the new community policing team team will be made up of one inspector, two sergeants, ten constables, one dedicated youth officer and seven PCSOs.

Southend’s team will comprise of one inspector; two sergeants, 11 constables, two dedicated youth officers and seven PCSOs.

Chief Insp Simon Anslow, district commander for Southend, said: “In the face of many changes I can assure you that your police officers will continue to be at the heart of the community, investigate your crimes, respond to your emergencies and provide solutions to longer-term crime-related problems.

“The new community policing team will be more focused and used more smartly to keep your community safe.

“The team will not work in isolation and will be supported by detectives in CID, the domestic violence, sexual offences and child abuse investigation teams as well as specialist colleagues across the rest of the county, for example the serious crime directorate.”