West Yorkshire Police lost more than 120 officers dealing with 999 emergencies in a single year – despite the Government’s vow to protect “frontline” policing.

The number of so-called “first responders”, who follow up on emergency calls, went down by 123 to 3,573 between the General Election and March 2011.

The data was compiled by the Labour Party, based on Freedom of Information requests to individual forces.

Ministers said they did not recognise the figures, which they said were “unofficial”.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert said Labour was “scaremongering” and that it was “quite wrong” to suggest a fall in emergency police responsiveness.

First responders deal with emergency call-outs, attend traffic accidents and patrol neighbourhoods.

Labour described the job losses – among officers following up on 999 calls – as “shocking”, saying they exposed the Government’s claim that only back-office administrative cuts would be made.

The party obtained responses on the number of “first responders” from all 43 forces in England and Wales, showing a total reduction of more than 5,000.

West Yorkshire Police needs to save almost £90 million by 2015 due to budget cuts.

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said: “These figures are shocking.

“The evidence is stacked against the Government and against their bogus claims about protecting frontline policing.

“It is communities who will ultimately pay the price.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “These are not official figures and we don’t recognise them. The reality is independent reports have shown police can reduce costs while protecting the frontline.”

Labour said its study had been focused on the units that are classified by HM Inspector of Constabulary as responsible for responding to 999 calls.

These included the neighbourhood, community safety, probation, traffic and dogs teams.

The Government is cutting police funding by 20 per cent over this Parliament, but insists that this will not affect frontline policing or crime levels.

This is expected to lead to a reduction across the country of 16,000 officers by 2015.