THE extra council tax bill to pay for policing is to rise by £10 to £15 a year for most households despite a bid by two Tory councillors to block it.

Wyre politicians Cllr Roger Berry and Cllr Peter Le Marinel said the cost was too high for hard-pressed residents.

But the Lancashire Police and Crime Panel this morning backed the recommendation of police commissioner Clive Grunshaw for a 7.1 per cent rise adding £10 to the annual bill of a Band A terraced houses and £15 for a Band D family home.

He said he was following government guidance over the increase from April 1 to pay for 153 extra officers but branded the system of financing policing ‘flawed, unfair and unjust’ and disadvantaged counties like Lancashire with smaller homes.

Even with these officers and 58 more paid for out of efficiency savings, he said the force was still 300 short of the numbers it had in 2010. But he pledged to increase neighbourhood police officers out on the streets.

He said there would be 54 more officers in the East of the county including 19 response officers and five neighbourhood bobbies; 40 in the West with eight response and three neighbourhood; 52 in the South with18 response and five neighbourhood with more than 60 deployed Lancashire-wide.

Cllr Berry said: “I’m sure many of our residents will have been finding it very difficult financially and will increasingly find it difficult in the coming months. I think they will really find it hard to pay another £15. I find it very difficult to accept the sort of increase you’re seeking.”

Cllr Peter Le Marinel said: “If people are going to pay money and it’s going to be spent elsewhere in Lancashire then they’re not going to be happy about that.”

Pendle Council’s deputy leader Cllr David Whipp accused the government of committing a ‘dreadful deceit’ on people by promising extra officers but making them pay for them through council tax.

Hyndburn’s Cllr Munsif Dad said he was unhappy about the rise but the panel had no choice but to agree it.

Rossendale’s Cllr Jackie Oakes expressed fears that extra officers in the East of the county could be swallowed up by Burnley at the expense of her borough while Ribble Valley's Cllr Sue Bibby asked for more neighbourhood police in its villages.

The panel agreed to write to Home Office minister Kit Malthouse asking for a reform to the financing of policing.