POLICING is to cost more – but the Cambridgeshire Police Authority will be working on a standstill budget. The police authority decided that its part of Council Tax for 2008-09 would see an increase of 5 per cent. But it said that in spite of the standsti

POLICING is to cost more - but the Cambridgeshire Police Authority will be working on a standstill budget.

The police authority decided that its part of Council Tax for 2008-09 would see an increase of 5 per cent.

But it said that in spite of the standstill budget the police authority was still committed to maintaining PCSO and police officer number at existing levels.

In approving the £120.6 million budget, Keith Walters, chairman of the police authority, said: "Significant budget cuts have been made in the last two years and it is now impossible to reduce the budget further without impacting on the frontline.

"The position for the year ahead remains a challenging one," he said.

Mr Walters said that the police authority will continue to have talks with Government ministers in the hope of gaining additional funding from Westminster.

The police authority says that during the past five years it has lost about £15 million in Government funding.