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We know that the eastern region's police forces are preparing for big cuts. It seems they're looking everywhere for savings.

´óÏó´«Ã½ East Home Affairs Correspondent Sally Chidzoy tells us that she's uncovered various schemes for savings money - from turning off computers at night to doing away with Blackberrys.

Cambridgeshire police are delaying turning on the heating to save money. The force says it's saving £1,100 a week. A spokesman said that if boilers were off for the first two weeks of October at all its sites, the force could save more than £20,000. It's also looking at its newspaper bill.

Norfolk police are cutting down on Blackberrys

Norfolk police are cutting down on issuing mobile phones and Blackberrys. They say they're taking them back from staff who don't need them. And they have removed all desktop printers to save money, opting instead to use single multi-purpose machines.

At Hertfordshire police HQ they're saving £20,000 a year by switching off computers at night. The Northamptonshire force is saving £33,000 doing the same.

Bedfordshire police say the issuing of penalty notices for "appropriate crimes" such as disorder has saved money by cutting officer time booking in and handling paperwork. They're also saving £3,000 a year by replacing pay-slips with online information.

Many private companies and households have been doing this sort of thing for some time.

It's interesting that the public sector is now following suit. One wonders why it has taken so long.

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