RADICAL plans have been unveiled to put more than 400 extra police on the streets of North Yorkshire by scrapping the Government's asylum system.

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith wants to introduce a strict quota on the number of immigrants allowed to enter Britain - saving up to £1.7 billion per year. The Tories would spend a significant chunk of the cash on recruiting new police officers.

According to Conservative Central Office, the number of bobbies in North Yorkshire would increase by 417 over an eight-year period - two terms in power for the Conservatives.

The total number of officers would stand at 1,862, compared to 1,417 at the end of the last financial year. A party spokesman said: "This radical policy will have an enormous impact on the fight against crime.

"An effective system of neighbourhood policing is vital to reclaiming our streets across the area for the honest citizen.

"If we are to tackle criminality and disorder effectively, we need far more police officers for North Yorkshire than are currently being proposed by the Government."

The policy intends to win votes by coupling two regular complaints from the public - chaos in the asylum system and a lack of visible policing.

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, March 27, 2003