Janet Birkin, chairman of Derbyshire Police Authority, said it had not received the level of funding it needed from the government.

She said it was effectively propping up police authorities across England.

A Home Office spokesperson said Derbyshire's funding had increased by more than a third since 2000/01.

All police authorities continue to receive their fair share of available resources Home Office spokesman

The increase in council tax will see householders living in a Band D property paying an extra 13p per week - around �7 each year.

"In truth, we did expect this because the government... guarantees regardless of what the funding formula dictates, each police authority and force will, for this coming year, receive a minimum increase of 3.6%.

"In the last five years, we made more than �34m in savings, so I do believe the community of Derbyshire is getting very good value for money," she said.

A Home Office spokesman said: "All police authorities continue to receive their fair share of available resources.

"However, we had to consider the need to provide a reasonable increase for all police authorities within the resources available and keep police precepts across the board at sustainable levels.

"We are making changes to funding in response to requests from the police service itself for greater flexibilities and freedoms in order to decide locally the best way of delivering visible, responsive, and accessible policing."