BENDIGO’S police communications centre D24 is in dire straits, the police association says.

After a meeting with D24 members yesterday, assistant secretary Inspector Bruce McKenzie said the situation was more serious than first realised.

On Wednesday, the association’s health and safety representative in Bendigo issued a provisional improvement notice, effectively warning the employer staffing numbers needed to be increased.

Inspector McKenzie acknowledged that while the Victorian Police Force was responsible for staffing, it had little funding to work with under the State Government.

‘‘It’s not good enough for the Police Minister to say that this is the responsibility of the Victorian Police Force.

‘‘The buck stops with him. He just can’t push the Government’s responsibility for community safety onto the force,’’ Inspector McKenzie said.

When contacted on Thursday, spokeswoman for Police Minister Bob Cameron, Lidija Ivanovski, denied the issue was the responsibility of the Government.

‘‘This is an operational matter for police, and the Government has full faith in local area command ability dealing with any staffing issues,’’ she said.

During yesterday morning’s meeting with five members, Inspector McKenzie said members had told him they were unable to take meal breaks, and at times resorted to eating lunch at their desks while continuing to take emergency 000 calls.

‘‘It’s just totally unacceptable,’’ Inspector McKenzie said.