HOUSEHOLDS in Wiltshire will pay an extra £10 a year towards funding the county's police force.

The policing element of the council tax will go up by 84p per month, for the average band D property, meaning the current contribution of £206 per year to local policing will rise to £216 per year.

The tax hike could have been larger - £12 instead of £10 - but Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said extra funding from central government had given him "flexibility to increase the policing precept by £10 per year".

He said: “The small increase of £10 per year for an average household in the policing precept will mean more money invested in enhancing community policing teams in our neighbourhood areas.

"This is in addition to the extra 49 police officers we will deliver as part of the governments Uplift Programme to recruit 20,00 new officers by March 2023.

"By March 2021 we will be 116 officers greater than that of March 2019."

The rise was voted through unanimously by the Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel.

The increase was unanimously supported by the Police and Crime Panel at County Hall in Trowbridge.

The consultation period started prior to the government announcing the police funding settlement for 2020/21.

On Wednesday, January 22, the PCC welcomed the announcement from central government, which offered the flexibility to increase the policing precept by £10 per year to enhance community policing in local neighbourhood areas.

Mr Macpherson said: “This year has seen the highest number of respondents to a precept consultation in recent years and over 70 per cent of respondents were in favour of a rise of at least £1 per month, or £12 per year."