COUNCIL tax payers in Cheshire are shelling out twice as much for policing as they did 10 years ago.

Figures released by Cheshire Police Authority show central government grants are failing to keep pace with the increase in expenditure, meaning local ratepayers must take up the slack.

The council tax element has gone up almost 140% since 1995 while White-hall's proportion has only gone up by 35.5%, although it still funds the majority of a £142,258,000 annual budget.

Police authority member Cllr Gretta Cousins (Con, Frodsham and Helsby) believes central government wants to pass the blame for tax increases on to local bodies.

She said: 'It's the same at local government level. Whatever tax we impose is largely a result of what we don't get from government. It's what's commonly referred to as passing the buck, passing the blame to somebody else.'

Labour police authority chairman Peter Nurse has been consulting the public over how much they want to pay for policing and explaining that more bobbies means a bigger rise.

Cllr Cousins says this is the reality of the situation, but it does not stop her and Conservatives colleagues wanting to lobby for additional central funds.

'If you want to see more people in uniform, that costs more money. We don't get enough from government to provide what the local people want.'

Cllr Cousins says that for political reasons, the Labour government has told police authorities they cannot cut the number of police officers. Such a move would make for bad publicity in the run-up to the General Election.

But the effect is to cut civilian support jobs and move front-line officers into desk jobs. All at a time when the force wants more bobbies on the beat.

The police budget has risen from £93,715,000 in 1995 to £142,258,000 today. Council tax payers now fund the budget to £35,012,000 compared with £14,608,000 in 1995. Central government funding is up from £79,109,000 in 1995 to £107,246,000 in 2004/05.