HOMEOWNERS are facing a significant rise in the cost of policing on top of huge rises in council tax, it was announced yesterday.

At a meeting of the Durham Police Authority, members agreed to raise the police precept - the amount it claims from taxpayers - by 14.2 per cent.

This means that Band A homeowners, who make up the majority of the county, will be billed for £61.63 to pay for maintaining the thin blue line, compared with £56.43 last year.

The news comes the day after Durham County Council announced a 14.8 per cent increase in next year's council tax, taking the Band A rate from £460.60 to £551.70.

Homeowners could be faced with yet another rise if, as expected, the district, parish and town councils governing the county decide to increase their precepts as well.

Yesterday's announcement follows warnings of a region-wide crisis as local authorities fix their budgets for the next financial year.

Many, including Durham County Council, which at one stage considered a 32.1 per cent council tax rise, complain that the Government's unfair funding formula is making them overcharge residents and cut services.

Durham Constabulary's director of finance and administration, Steve Cheston, cited national pay awards, price increases and the £340,000 needed for a new digital communications system, as reasons for the precept hike.

Despite the pressures, the constabulary has made efficiency savings of £2.9m, allowing it to spend £350,000 on cushioning the blow to taxpayers, who would otherwise have faced a 17.7 per cent increase.

It also plans to raise its number of officers to an all-time high of 1,672 by March.

Authority chairman, county councillor Joe Knox, said: "We will not take a single officer off the streets, despite the continual squeeze on spending."

l Homeowners in North Yorkshire are facing a 41.54 per cent rise in their police precept, while those in the Cleveland force area are bracing themselves for a possible 58 per cent increase.