CUTS to officer numbers will “severely impact” on the police’s ability to deal with a Paris-style terror attack, senior officers have warned.

In a letter that was sent to Home Secretary Theresa May following the atrocity and subsequently leaked, the officers argued that mainstream policing was crucial to tackling terrorism.

The letter on police preparedness, drafted by senior officials following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in the wake of the Paris massacres, states: “Police forces across England and Wales have already seen a reduction of 40,000 officers and further losses will severely impact on our surge capacity…”