A WATCHDOG'S boss says council taxpayers are handing out more this year for policing on Teesside - and it's time to deliver.

Councillor Ken Walker, re-elected yesterday as chairman of the Cleveland Police Authority, said: "We asked local people to make a significant increase in their contribution to the service because we felt that was necessary to deal with the real and serious challenges we faced. We have provided additional funds in the current year of £2.4m.

"Now I think it is right that we say, on behalf of the public, we want to see those extra resources making a real difference."

He revealed discussions are taking place with Cleveland Police Chief Constable Barry Shaw on ways to monitor progress being made.

The politician said he believed the Tees force enjoyed the overwhelming support of the public they served.

But he said: "I recognise that, if we are to maintain that support, we need to move forward - we need to demonstrate to the public that we understand the impact which crime has on their lives and we are determined to make their lives better and the lives of criminals worse."

A rise in the council tax precept, which he last year defended as "coppers for coppers" resulted in an additional £2.4m in funding.

The priorities are an additional £750,000 for Middlesbrough and Stockton districts, while maintaining levels at Hartlepool and Langbaurgh; an additional £400,000 to establish an organised crime unit to target drugs barons, a target increase of 60 police officers; and an additional £440,000 to improve the way the force handles calls from the public.

His call for a bigger crackdown on crime comes the same week armed police have twice been seen on the streets of Middlesbrough rounding up suspected crack cocaine suppliers and their illegally held weapons, and while daily Dealer a Day raids continue on the homes of suspected drug deals.