Plans for a 6.7 per cent hike in the police precept were signed off today (Friday) – but 30 of the 60 PCSOs in Cheshire facing redundancy will still lose their jobs.

The annual rise for the police element of the council tax (precept) for a band D property is usually capped at £15.

This year residents will see that increase to £18.30 for a band D – which equates to £1.54 per month – after police and crime commissioner Dan Price (Lab) asked the Home Office for an exceptional increase to help safeguard PCSO (police community support officer) roles at risk.

Today (Friday) Mr Price told a meeting of the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel, he had received permission from government for an extra increase but not the full amount he had requested, so only 30 PCSO roles would be saved.

This will leave Cheshire with a total of 57 PCSOs from April, as opposed to the current 87.

The commissioner said: "Cheshire was one of only a handful of forces to be granted exceptional precept flexibility of £3.50 above the referendum limit.

"This means the government agreed to let me add £1.20 a month to a band B bill.

"Now this isn't the full amount that I asked for but it is enough to make a real difference, which I see as great news here in Cheshire.

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"Following meetings with the chief constable, it was agreed that this was enough money to save 30 of the 60 PCSO roles that were under threat."

Mr Price said he referred to band B rather than band D, which is more widely used when referring to precepts, because two thirds of homes in Cheshire are in bands A-C.

Cheshire Police will make £1.32m savings from the 30 PCSO redundancies.

Those PCSO roles will now be replaced in neighbourhoods by a named, warranted police officer released from other teams within the force.

The police commissioner told the panel he had been encouraged by the response to the public consultation on his precept proposals.

More than 6,000 residents participated.

Of those, 73 per cent said they supported an increase in the precept and 57 per cent had selected the option which would have seen a bigger rise to save all 60 under-threat PCSOs.

Cllr Mike Jones (CWAC, Con) said the panel needed to know where the redeployed warranted officers would be taken from 'so we can understand the consequences of that'.

The police commissioner agreed to provide the information.

The panel, whose job is to scrutinise the work of the commissioner, rubber-stamped the 6.7 per cent precept increase by seven votes to one.

They also recommended the commissioner provides the panel with regular updates on the changes to neighbourhood policing across the county and that he provides a detailed breakdown of accommodation costs for his office.