NORTH YORKSHIRE'S Chief Constable, Della Cannings, said today that rural police forces would oppose any move to switch cash away from them.

She was reacting to reports in a national newspaper this weekend claiming that the Government planned to redistribute money from places like North Yorkshire to "rundown metropolitan areas".

A Home Office spokeswoman said today that an announcement on the police's spending settlement for next year would be made at the end of this month.

She declined to comment ahead of the announcement, which will be made by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.

North Yorkshire is expected to suffer as a result of changes to the funding formula made by Mr Prescott's department ahead of last year's grant.

Critics claimed the changes shifted money away from wealthier, rural areas to poorer Labour heartlands in the inner-cities.

Under the formula, North Yorkshire received the smallest possible increase

of three per cent, taking the total Government grant to £70.4 million - up only £2.1 million.

Police fear the gap between North Yorkshire and other forces - some of which got maximum increases of 4.9 per cent - will get bigger as the new formula continues to bite.

Ms Cannings, who was attending a meeting of North Yorkshire Police Authority today, told the Evening Press that there were a lot of discussions going on "behind the scenes" on the issue of next year's police funding from central Government.

She said: "Obviously rural forces would be against anything that financially disadvantages them."

Updated: 10:38 Monday, November 03, 2003