MORE police officers will be put on the beat in the Northumbria area - but at a cost to council tax payers.

Northumbria Police Authority unveiled a £227m budget after what it described as another poor financial settlement, the worst of any of the Metropolitan police authorities.

The budget is enough to put 87 new police officers on the streets, with money from the Government's Crime Fighting Fund.

However, precepts on council tax payers will need to rise by 6.9 per cent, after alterations to the Home Office funding equation.

The formula has translated a fall of 6,000 in the area's population into a £1.1m reduction in funding to the police authority.

However, the budget will allow Northumbria to spend an extra £500,000 on forensic support and better protective equipment for police officers, including body armour and high-visibility clothing.

A capital budget of £11m will also allow the police authority to begin investing in a fleet of Ford Focus patrol cars, to replace its fleet of Fiestas.

Despite an unwelcome increase in the precept, local council tax payers will still only pay for a tiny proportion of the police budget.

The cost to the average household in Band B properties will be £43.28 a year - less than 12p a day.