RESIDENTS of York and Selby endure almost half of all North Yorkshire's recorded crime, but receive the smallest proportion of police cash, an investigation has revealed.

A report commissioned by new City of York Council leader Steve Galloway found that just 32 per cent of the budget of North Yorkshire Police is directed to its central area, which covers Selby and York.

It recommends that a radical new funding formula is devised to redress the balance, based on actual crime figures, not an arbitrary three-way split between the divisions.

But Ms Cannings claimed the study was "seriously flawed" and that it failed to take into account the complexity of policing.

Coun Galloway is concerned that crime levels in York are rising and the city's police do not have adequate resources to reverse the trend.

"There's a long way to go and I think the police do recognise that in terms of matching resources to crime levels that there is more work to do in York," he said.

Ms Cannings said: "I would like to increase the number of officers available in the central area, but can only do so at the expense of other areas."

According to recent police figures, the central policing area has 44 per cent of recorded crime, compared to 29 and 27 per cent in the eastern and western areas respectively.

Despite this, in 2001 resource allocation saw the eastern area receive 34.7 per cent of the £46 million budget, the western area 33.3 per cent and the central area just 32 per cent.

Updated: 10:43 Tuesday, September 16, 2003