PEOPLE on Teesside will have to pay an extra £24 a year council tax to cover the cost of fighting crime and anti-social behaviour.

The rise will enable Cleveland Police to recruit 60 more officers and another 60 community support officers to patrol the streets.

Cleveland Police Authority yesterday voted for a 25 per cent hike in their precept. A larger rise, 54 per cent, had been suggested. It would have paid for 180 police officers and 220 community support officers but members agreed training would drain existing resources.

Chief constable Barry Shaw said the amount, 46p a week - the same as a packet of peanuts - would be used to continue the war against drug dealers and anti-social behaviour.

Mr Shaw, who retires next month, said: "If you put additonal resources in you get better results. There is always scope to increase efficiency but you have to get the levels of resources right to start with.

"This force area is difficult to police. It has extensive areas of acute social deprivation and associated high crime rates, a major petrochemical complex and a busy port which imposes additional policing requirements.

"The position has been made worse in recent years by the growth in organised crime and terrorism."

The extra cash will also be used to fight computer crime. The force will also join the national paedophile investigation, Operation Ore.

A dedicated major investigation unit will be set up with trained teams dealing with serious crimes such as murders so local detectives are not pulled away from their ongoing work.

Mr Shaw said the force was also looking at ways to trap criminals using an automatic number plate recognition system, which resulted in 123 arrests a week when it was piloted in other forces around the country.

Police authority chairman Ken Walker proposed the increase. He was backed by 12 members. Alan Clark abstained.