No increase in Derbyshire's police budget

An appeal from Derbyshire's chief constable for more money to run the force has been turned down by the county's police authority.

Chief Constable Mick Creedon had asked for more cash to avoid cutting back 120 officers in the next two years.

Derbyshire Police receives some of its funding from council tax and the rest from a grant from central government, which has been cut by about £6m.

The authority voted to reject the chief constable's request for a 3.4% rise.

Recruitment freeze

The police budget was set at £170m for the next 12 months - which is a 3.3% decrease from last year - with the council portion of the budget to remain the same.

The freeze on the council portion of the police budget means a Band D householder will pay £163.74 a year towards policing.

The increase recommended by the chief constable would have resulted in an increase of £5.63 per year for a Band D household.

Mr Creedon said after the meeting: "My job now is to use the available finances and provide the best policing I can within them.

"Most of our costs are salaries and people - and we will be reducing numbers of police officers, PCSOs (police community support officers) and civilian members."

The new budget will result in a freeze on police officer recruitment and the introduction of a voluntary redundancy scheme.

The vote means there will not be an increase in the council tax in the county in the next year.