A SHORTFALL in Government funding has landed Vale taxpayers with a 14.6 per cent increase in policing costs on their council tax bills.

West Mercia Police Authority has agreed a figure of £154,505,000 for its 2003/4 budget. The annual contribution from band D taxpayers will increase by 29p a week to £119.80.

The authority said that the new budget would enable the constabulary to improve its service to local communities and take full advantage of the additional 300 officers recruited in the past year.

Chairman Joyce Thomas said: "We faced some difficult decisions because of the fact that the Government allocation to West Mercia of £104.4million represented an increase of just three per cent.

This was £4.5million short of the Government contribution we needed just to maintain the service and therefore it was inevitable that an extra burden would fall on our local communities.

"During an extensive consultation process with groups such as Police Community Consultative Groups, local communities made it clear that they welcomed the additional officers and were keen they should be provided with the support services they require to maximise the benefits they will bring to the constabulary and the public we serve."

In addition to maintaining increased police numbers, the constabulary will be able to handle more telephone calls from the public and reinforce crime detection teams. It will also allow for speedier court referrals and the appointment of a counter terrorist security adviser, to comply with Home Office requirements.

Mrs Thomas also said that the budget would also provide for expenditure on additional priorities to be agreed between the Chief Constable and the Police Authority.

She added: "The Authority and the Chief Constable will continue to work closely together to ensure that we deliver value for money.

" We will also maintain our pressure on the Government for a fairer share of the police national funding cake for West Mercia to ensure that we are able to maintain the levels of service which our communities deserve without further increasing the burden on them."