TAX bills charged by North Yorkshire Police have rocketed by more than £28 million over the past four years, it was revealed today.

The rise, equating to £98.90 for a Band D home, was enough to put an extra 567 bobbies on the beat, including overheads.

But in the same period the number of police officers increased by only 199.

Instead, cash went on red tape, along with increased pension, salary and National Insurance payments, claim the Tories.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davies said: "With figures like these, the public are right to feel short-changed.

"They have paid for officers and yet their areas go unpatrolled. Is it too much to ask that they get the officers they have paid for?"

He said the total precept charged by North Yorkshire Police increased by 182.9 per cent between 2000/1 and 2003/4.

The hike led to the police authority receiving an extra £28.364 million from taxpayers.

The average police officer costs about £50,000 per year, including salary, overheads and office and IT expenses.

On these figures, the extra cash paid by the public would have funded 567 police. Instead, by the end of August 2003, there were an extra 199, which would cost £9.95 million.

Across England and Wales, police income from taxpayers rose by £955.5 million.

The number of police officers in England and Wales increased by 12,216, but Tories said these precepts could have paid for an extra 19,110 officers.

They blamed the gap on the Government not covering extra costs facing the police.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the Government grants had gone up by £1.9 billion or 25 per cent since 2000/1.

"However, as policing is a locally provided service, responsive to local pressures and local needs, it is appropriate that police authorities should be allowed the flexibility to raise some funding locally," she said.

The North Yorkshire Police grant will increase by a further 3.25 per cent next year.

Chief Constable Della Cannings warned yesterday that a council tax rise tied to inflation could lead to service cuts and stall recruitment.

North Yorkshire Police Authority clerk Jeremy Holderness, responding to the Tory attack, said council tax cash was being spent on modernisation, not just recruitment.

Updated: 10:50 Friday, February 06, 2004