YORK taxpayers are set to pay 10 per cent more for policing - but the hike will not mean more officers for the city.

The North Yorkshire Police Authority decided yesterday to raise the police precept by 9.94 per cent, creating an overall budget of £122 million, £8 million more than last year. This means a council tax payer living in a band D property will pay £3.30 a week for policing.

This works out at £171.51 a year, compared to the current annual precept of £156. Last year, the police authority hiked up the precept by 76 per cent.

The news broke shortly after City of York Council chiefs yesterday announced a 9.33 per cent council tax rise for York.

The total council tax and police precept rise is set to take a band D bill above £1,000 for the first time, to about £1,074.

The majority of people in York pay band C bills and face a total charge of about £955 a year, of which the council's share is £757.

The council's slice of the band D bill is £852.

The Fire Authority has yet to agree its precept, but a ten per cent precept rise would lead to a total fire authority bill of £51.

North Yorkshire Police's Chief Constable, Della Cannings, said she had no plans to increase the number of officers in York with the extra money.

"We cannot increase the numbers of officers in the city of York without stripping out the relatively low levels of staff that are available in rural areas. York will not get any additional policing, or if it does other areas will suffer," she said.

City of York Councillor Irene Waudby told the meeting: "There is still the feeling that York isn't getting its fair share of the resources."

Members of the authority unanimously backed the 9.94 per cent increase, suggested by the vice-chairman Jim Fender, after county councillor David Lloyd-Williams' proposal to increase the precept by 12.19 per cent was unsupported.

Coun Lloyd-Williams said he supported Ms Cannings aim to make North Yorkshire the best rural police force in the country.

"I believe we cannot stand still. We have started a ball rolling that has got a journey to complete," he said.

Updated: 10:33 Tuesday, February 10, 2004