CONSULTATION is getting underway on how much people should pay for policing North Yorkshire next year.

The annual precept is set by the county's police and crime commissioner, Julia Mulligan, and she has set three options for people to choose from.

The first is to freeze the precept, which her office says would effectively be a cut to the police budget.

The second option is an increase of 1.99 per cent, which would mean an extra £4.40 per year for a Band D property and would raise around £1.3m for next year and subsequent years.

The third option is to increase the precept by more than 1.99 per cent which would raise more money and mean spending at least £700,000 on a referendum on the proposals.

The survey is available online at telljulia.com and paper copies will be on display at police stations, libraries and council offices.

Currently, in North Yorkshire, about 53 per cent of police funding comes from the Government while the remaining 47 per cent is raised locally, mainly through the police precept.