METROPOLITAN police are trying to lure Hampshire bobbies away from the county beat - by offering them free rail tickets.

Now fears are growing that the dangling carrot could make Hampshire's thin blue line even thinner.

The major blow to Hampshire's police recruiting efforts comes after Home Secretary Jack Straw announced a package for Metropolitan Police officers, which includes a salary rise of some £3,000 and free rail season tickets in a 70-mile radius from London.

London house prices would normally slam the door on a young officer from outside the capital even contemplating joining the Met.

But the offer of a free rail season ticket sweetener would make it easier to take the Waterloo line and join the big city officers.

Currently an annual season ticket from Southampton to Waterloo costs £3,296.

Starting salary for a Metropolitan police rookie is £23,184, including London allowances, compared with the Hampshire police probationer starting salary of around £17,100.

Eastleigh MP David Chidgey said he was concerned that the new package for the Met would lure officers away from Hampshire to work in London.

And a police federation chief has warned that it could eventually hit Hampshire's police numbers, particularly in the north of the county.

Mr Chidgey said: "While I welcome efforts to increase police numbers in the capital poaching them from surrounding counties merely adds to Hampshire's recruitment problems."

And the MP pointed out that the recent increase in police numbers in Hampshire had merely restored the force to its 1998 levels.

He said: "We are still 90 police officers under budget and 95 short on recruitment.

"Does the Prime Minister realise that the offer of a free rail season ticket is inducing officers who work in Eastleigh to leave the Hampshire force and commute to London ?

"A flexible police pay package for Hampshire is vital if we are to recruit the officers we need to police our area properly.

"I shall keep up the pressure on Tony Blair until we see some results."

Hampshire Police Federation chairman Alan Gordon has also condemned the latest move to lure officers to the capital which he warned could eventually hit police numbers in the county.

"This adds insult to injury to offer free travel as far as Southampton.

"I am appalled that yet again that the Metropolitan Police are being treated more favourably than the provincial forces of the south east," he said.

Hampshire Police recruitment manager Chief Inspector Nick Cunningham said that while they understood the need for other forces to introduce recruiting initiatives they obviously would not want to see anything that could affect their own needs.

He said: "The majority of our recruits come from either Hampshire or the adjoining counties and they are happy to stay in the area where the motorway system makes travel easy.

"When we are posting officers we are always sympathetic about their travel needs and try to ease the burden."