WILTSHIRE’S Police and Crime Commissioner has warned that residents should not be left to pick up the bill for tackling national crime problems as pressure on police funding continues to mount.

Mr Wilkinson said he will pursue every available route to secure extra cash for Wiltshire Police but stressed there must be limits on how much communities are asked to contribute.

“I, on behalf of the county and Wiltshire Police, will explore all avenues available to secure additional funding through any mechanisms offered,” he said.

“However, our communities should not be disproportionately ‘put upon’ to fund what are effectively national challenges.

“I will already be proposing a £15 increase per year, per Band D property but I would be doing Wiltshire Police a disservice if I did not have these conversations with government around potential precept increases above my original proposal”.

Mr Wilkinson warned that piecemeal changes could cost taxpayers without delivering better services.

“Each of the changes to the policing and local government landscape need to be looked at together, and not independently or piecemeal – otherwise there is a very real possibility of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money being wasted without any significant improvement to local policing or local authority services.

Mr Wilkinson argued that police funding cannot be looked at in isolation and must be part of a wider reform of policing and local government.

“The long-term viability of policing depends on a fair, properly funded national settlement and an updated police funding formula that reflects the realities and pressures of modern policing,” he explained.

He also said rising levels of serious violence, knife crime and violence against women and girls (VAWG) require a national response – not just local solutions: “National epidemics of serious violence, knife crime and VAWG demand national solutions and national funding.