MANY of us could not believe just how much our Chief Constable thought was required to fund the North Yorkshire police during the last three years, with precept increases of 42 per cent, then 72 per cent and lastly ten per cent.

It all now becomes clear: it was not all to fill the black hole in the police pension fund or to provide more policemen. An external auditors report shows about 20 per cent of the total was not really needed because it has been placed into reserve accounts not easily accessible to the public for use if needed in future years (January 19).

To those on pensions or low incomes who have to pay council tax this has meant savings have been depleted or housing choices have had to be made. In some cases they have faced court action when unable to pay.

If the money had been spent on more police officers a case could have been argued, but to raid our savings and decrease our standard of living to create a hidden nest egg is unbelievable.

I hope this means that for this year at least there will be no increase in the police precept.

The time must have come when someone other than the Chief Constable has the right to decide how much we can afford to pay; perhaps it should be us, the voters.

Peter Southon,

Main Street,

Thorganby, York.

Updated: 11:11 Monday, January 24, 2005