Police claim they will be able to spend more time on frontline operations thanks to a cost-saving scheme that combines office jobs under one roof.

Bosses estimate that at least £500,000 a year - and eventually as much as £2million - will be saved following the opening of a new business centre in Northfleet by Kent's Chief Constable Mike Fuller.

In the past, most operational units have done their own paperwork such as expense claims, sickness absence and invoice processing but this has sometimes led to complaints about bureaucracy and inefficiency.

Paperwork and other back office roles from across the county have now been centralised at the centre. Around 30 staff already work on the top floor of the Thames Way police station, with plenty of space for expansion.

Kent Police is the first police authority in the country to put its personnel and finance functions into a single business centre. The decision should also enhance management information systems and could see other police forces and even outside businesses paying to use the service.

Mr Fuller cut a blue ribbon to mark the opening before looking around the centre and chatting to staff.

"This is a genuinely exciting development for the force," he said. "I’m sure quite a lot of other forces will be looking to us to emulate what we are doing."

He said it would give huge business and efficiency benefits, with financial savings ploughed back into frontline services. Savings had already enabled him to put an extra 48 officers onto operational duties.

"It is in the back office that the best savings can be made without an effect or impact on the frontline. We’re looking to grow the frontline which is what the people of Kent say the want."

David Marshall, head of business services, added: "This is trying to take away some of the paper and bureaucracy and making these things quicker and easier for officers to do.

"We’re trying to speed up all these processes for them, give them a one-stop shop so they can come into the office environment for a limited time, complete all their activities and carry on with their operational activities."