A COMMUNITY leader says Cheshire Chief Constable Peter Fahy should ask for more money from the general population rather than imposing 'double taxation' on rural people.

Cllr Anna Patten, former chairman of Malpas Parish Council, was responding to an offer by Mr Fahy to provide a dedicated police community support officer (PCSO) for the village at an extra cost of £11,000 on the parish precept. She accused him of 'having a cheek'.

Addressing the council's monthly meeting, she said during an on-line chat via the Cheshire Constabulary website, Mr Fahy boasted three times about Cheshire having the second lowest Council Tax precept for policing in the country.

She said: 'If the police precept in Cheshire is so much lower than in other areas, why is this? If the police require more resources to operate effectively why can they not ask the people for more money?

'Why do they feel it necessary to disguise the true cost of policing by hiding it in our budget? Is this happening up and down the country? Are chief constables going to parish councils asking them to pay for PCSOs?'

Cllr Patten conducted a survey of police precepts in similar rural areas to Cheshire and discovered that while Cheshire Police Authority charges £108.49 for a band D property, it is up to £180 for North York-shire and £150.24 for West Mercia.

Cllr Patten continued: 'But beyond the cost there is a more important issue here, which is - why should parished areas pay more for policing than unparished areas? People in Malpas already pay £108.49 per band D house for policing. The chief con-stable wants us to pay an additional £16.30 per household to raise £11,000 towards a PCSO - that would raise the precept from its current £13.74 to £30 a year.'

'Residents of Chester city or of smaller communities which don't have a parish council won't pay it because there will be no way to collect the additional tax.

'In other words, the police want to impose double taxation for policing in parished areas and I believe we should make a determined and unified stand against this to nip it in the bud.'

Cllr Patten, who received a round of applause, was unanimously supported by fellow members in her proposal that the parish contact the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, asking it to tell the police the suggestion was 'totally inappropriate and unacceptable'.