More officers from support units will become investigators

Ch Con Steve Finnigan says he wants more detectives, more officers to respond to public calls and investment in new technology and equipment.

The changes would be funded by raising an extra �5m through a rise in council tax and efficiency savings.

Lancashire Police Authority will meet to discuss the budget plan next week.

Assessments in the past three years have shown Lancashire Constabulary to be among the highest performing forces in the UK, Mr Finnigan said.

Despite this, the police authority said the force received one of the lowest council tax contributions in the country.

We believe that the council tax in Lancashire ought to make a proper contribution to the policing of the county Geoff Roper, police authority

Mr Finnigan said his force faced significant new challenges.

A recent efficiency drive had "squeezed out everything" from the existing budget but the force needed investment to deal with the challenges properly, the chief said.

Under his plans, staff from four specialist units - armed response, dog handling, the motorway unit and some other support teams - will be redeployed.

"We will free up 50 officers from those four groups and essentially they will get translated into investigators or detectives that will operate at a higher level," said Mr Finnigan.

The council tax increase will take the typical band B property charge for policing from �87.96 to �97.96 a year.

Geoff Roper, chairman of the authority's resources committee, said: "We believe that the council tax in Lancashire ought to make a proper contribution to the policing of the county.