THE cost of policing fracking protests at Kirby Misperton in October was almost a quarter of a million pounds.

North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan today revealed the total costs for overtime payments, equipment, subsistence, travel and bringing in officers from other forces.

In October alone, these cost £233,704 - without including the daily pay of officers on site.

In September, when the protests began in earnest, the cost was £101,476, and up to August 31, £80,238 was spent on policing the area around the fracking site.

Mrs Mulligan said October's costs were anticipated to be higher as it was the first full month of protests, and the mutual aid from other forces was necessary to allow policing to carry on around the North yorkshire region.

She said: "The costs incurred during October were considerably higher than the previous month and this is due to a number of factors, including a rise in the number of officers needed when protest activity increased and, on a number of occasions, support from other police forces in the form of mutual aid.

"As well as keeping people safe at the Kirby Misperton site, I am also keen that business as usual is maintained across the county, as far as possible. If mutual aid is required, then that must be the decision, although as you can see from the figures, it is costly.

“However, at the moment North Yorkshire Police has the necessary contingencies and budgets in place to deal with events such as this in the short term. However, if the costs go beyond one per cent (or £1.4m) of our total budget, I have this week received a positive response from the Policing Minister to my letter stating that I have the option to seek a partial recovery of costs. I’d like to thank the Minister for replying so promptly."

During October, a total of 40 people were arrested in connection with protest activity, of whom 35 were charged, cautioned, or remain under investigation. In September, 26 people were arrested, of whom 24 were charged or cautioned.