Households were already expecting a sharp council tax rise after council officials said they had suffered "savage" cuts from central government.

Now Cumbria Police Authority is to get 30% of the county's council tax take.

The authority says the extra cash is needed to put a extra 300 officers on the streets over the next four years.

Spending cuts

The Cumbria force has had to tackle rising drug-related crimes and anti-social behaviour.

The authority claimed it needed a 20% increase in cash from the government just to allow services to stand still.

It received an increase of just 3.5%.

Cumbria County Council has already said it will have to increase council tax bills by 12%.

The council has said it is determined that front line services - such as education and social services - will not be affected by any subsequent spending cuts.

But road maintenance is likely to be a casualty with a 21% cut in the highways budget.

The council was allocated an extra £13m by the government for 2003, but has been told to spend an extra £26m on services and has had its highways grant cut by £5.5m.