THEY marched in their thousands and brought parts of the capital to a standstill.

More than double the expected 16,000 police officers descended on London to have their voices heard and ensure the government were in no doubt about their anger over the “destruction” of the national force.

More than 450 officers and support staff had made the journey from Hampshire early this morning to take part in the national rally in protest over multi-million pound cuts that they say is threatening frontline policing.

As a sea of black caps walked en masse along Westminster they ensured nobody was left in doubt that they were here.

Starting from the back and building like a wave through the placard waving crowd there were repeated almighty roars, whistles and spontaneous rounds of applause.

Federation bosses from the county were this afternoon hailing the event as enormous success having already received contact from Hampshire MPs who now want to meet to discuss the impact of the cutbacks which in Hampshire has wiped £54m from the budget.