Battle for Number 10: Theresa May heckled as she defends 'devastating' cuts from Conservatives in TV showdown

Theresa May launched a staunch defence of the Conservative Party’s manifesto pledges after she was ambushed by a police officer about "devastating" cuts to services on live TV.

The Prime Minister also said she was “optimistic” about the upcoming Brexit negotiations and that she would walk away from the table if the deal was not right for Britain.

She was jeered and heckled by audience members as she took questions from the public and Jeremy Paxman during a televised interview on Monday.

One voter shouted “you’ve clearly failed” when confronting her about protecting schools.

She and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were being questioned separately by studio audiences and interviewed by Jeremy Paxman in a Sky News/Channel 4 "Battle for Number 10" broadcast.

In response to the policeman's question, named as Martin, Mrs May acknowledged that numbers of police in England and Wales had fallen by around 20,000.

But she said: "What we had to do when we came into government in 2010 was to ensure that we were living within our means and that was very important because of the economic situation we had inherited.

"It's not just about the numbers of police - people often focus on the numbers of police. It's actually about what the police are able to do and how they are being deployed on our streets.

She added: "Of course the terrorist threat is severe, but that's why we ensure that our police, our security service have that counter-terrorism budget and we are increasing the budgets for our security services, but also that they have the powers they need to do the job."

Martin responded: "I appreciate you are protecting the budgets, but we still need the staff to carry out the role of the police officer of keeping the public safe."

Mrs May was pressed about the Conservative Party's social care plans, dubbed the "dementia tax", with one elderly audience member asking: "Why should we in my generation vote for you?"

The PM said the UK faces the challenge of an ageing society, adding about her party's proposals: "It's about ensuring that nobody is going to have to sell their house to pay for care in their lifetime.

"It's about ensuring that £100,000 of savings and assets are protected to pass on to their family.

"We will put an absolute cap on the level of money that people have to spend on care.

"And I think what we're doing is ensuring we can have a sustainable solution for the long-term."

Asked about plans to means-test winter fuel payments, Mrs May said she did not want to "pull out a figure" during an election campaign but "listen to people, talk to people, to take people's views and then make a proposal as government".

She said: "So there's a proper consultation so we're actually hearing from voters, hearing from organisations and charities and others who work with older people about what they think is the right level to set that threshold for winter fuel payments.

"The key principle that would drive what we do is less well-off pensioners will be protected."

Mrs May went on: "What we need to do is to ensure we will put those record levels of funding into schools, we need to ensure we get that better spread of funding in terms of the fair funding formula."

The PM also faced questions about the NHS, with a Devon midwife asking her to justify the service's "chronic under-funding".