Mr Piccoli said there was a real reduction in police availability due to officers on leave, extended leave, stress leave and maternity leave or on restricted or light duties for various reasons.

"While it can be said that these positions are technically filled, the officers are not actually available for duty, and that for our community is simply not good enough," Mr Piccoli said. "I am concerned that officers are being moved from one town to another to fill gaps, that some stations have no police when needed, and in some cases officers are responding to calls when they are at towns more than an hour away."

In his letter to minister Michael Daley, Mr Piccoli highlighted three recent examples where police were simply not available or police on leave or light duties were not replaced, creating difficulties in the communities.

In one area HSC examinations were locked in a police station and officers had to be called in from other areas to unlock them.

In another area, ambulance officers attending a call-out were unable to have immediate police support and in another area there were only two police officers sent to a reported melee of about 30 people.

Mr Piccoli has asked Mr Daley to consider allocating more police to the Murrumbidgee electorate and to ensure proper arrangements are in place to replace staff on various forms of leave.