Somerset residents will see their council tax bills rise to pay for more police officers – but some areas will fork out more than others.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary has published details of its annual budget, which will see average (Band D) council tax bills rise by £10 per year.

The additional money will be used to fund 75 additional police investigators and keep 15 recently recruited PCSOs.

But residents in South Somerset and Somerset West & Taunton will end up paying for a larger proportion of the rise than the other two Somerset districts.

Details of the budget were discussed by the Avon and Somerset police and crime panel in Taunton on Tuesday (January 4).

The police has a total revenue budget of just over £328M – of which around £130M is directly raised via council tax, rather than grants or other sources.

Residents within the Bristol area contribute the biggest proportion of this council tax take, at around one quarter (22.5 per cent) of the total.

Within the four Somerset districts, South Somerset residents contribute the largest proportion – with their bills representing 10.6 per cent of the police's total council tax take.

They are followed by Somerset West and Taunton residents (9.9 per cent), then Sedgemoor (7.3 per cent) and finally Mendip (7.2 per cent).

The rise in precept will allow the police to invest in 75 "additional police staff investigator posts", as well as ensuring 15 recently recruited PCSOs (funded initially through government grants) can remain in place.

The force aims to have an additional 403 police officers at its disposal by March 2023, with 368 being paid for by funding from central government and 35 being funded from "local efficiencies".

This means it will have the equivalent of 3,150 full-time police officers by 2023.

The force has not specified where in the county these new officers will be deplayed, but it aims to have 165 in place by March 2021, with the number gradually rising as more recruits come forward.

Chief constable Andy Marsh explained: "It takes three years to recruit and train a police officer."

Under its capital programme – which concerns new assets, such as buildings or vehicles – the police plans to spend £5.8M on renovating Yeovil police station to make it "fit for purpose".

It also plans to spend £28.7M on replacing IT assets by 2024 – including body-worn video camera, laptops and mobile phones – as well as £16.1M on replacement vehicles.