A woman who says she was a victim of stalking has launched a campaign to prevent ‘unsafe’ police cuts.

Pauline Fynn, of Newbury Park, Ilford, has a stalking case going through the courts which she says took over a year to resolve due to the increased workload and pressure the police were placed under by government cuts.

The 48-year-old said: “This has had a profound effect on me and my family.”

Last month Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said he was expecting up to £1billion in budget cuts by 2020 and would have to lose up to 8,000 officers.

He feared the cuts would damage the largest police force in the country's ability to respond to a terrorist attack or any repeat of the 2011 riots across London.

But Mrs Flynn said she had already felt the impact of the police cuts.

"What should have been a relatively straight forward case went on for nearly a year because the police are short staffed, highly stressed and have such high numbers of casework," she said.

"Yet the police have been absolutely amazing and supportive towards me and as a victim there are not enough words to show my appreciation."

The campaigner who works in the criminal justice system started the petition in the hope it will make the government ‘sit up and take notice’.

She said: “Police are not a luxury they are an essential support service that must be treated with respect.

“You don't have to be Einstein to see that cuts to this extent will have a huge impact on public safety and for the career criminals all their Christmases will have come at once.

“Government have heard from officers and politicians, now it's time for communities and victims to speak up.

“We all understand we are living in a time of austerity but ministers must sensibly make decisions without putting the public at risk.”

You can sign Mrs Flynn’s petition here: www.change.org/p/rt-hon-theresa-may-mp-rt-hon-mike-penning-listen-to-the-public-and-halt-the-police-cuts-acd3d8b5-20b2-467f-84ec-cb900956f1ab