Ray Mallon has opposed a council tax increase for the force

Cleveland chief constable Sean Price said that he had not been aware of at least �2m of the budget deficit when he took over at the force in 2003.

The Cleveland Police Authority has called in the spending watchdog, the Audit Commission, to investigate the force's financial plight.

Support withdrawn

The force had secured pledges from council leaders across Teesside for a 28.9% increase in the police element of council tax payments.

But that money is on hold because Middlesbrough mayor, and former Cleveland police officer, Ray Mallon, has withdrawn his support for the move.

He said he was "deeply concerned" at the situation in which Cleveland Police now found itself.

Chief constable Sean Price was unaware of some of the deficit

Mr Mallon said: "The force has commitments which are �6.8m in excess of current resources.

"This is something which has never been made known to the public or their elected representatives.

"I am not prepared to support the public being asked to give a single penny more until I am personally satisfied that the resources currently available are being properly managed.

"I still believe there is a need for additional police numbers, but before we ask the public to dig deep we have to be assured that this is where the money will go."

Chief Constable Sean Price said: "Over the past week, in-depth examinations of the budget over several years have shown some rolling committed costs of �2.3m, which was unknown to the chief constable and the management team of the organisation.

No job cuts

"This brings our total required savings to �6.8m to enable us to achieve a standstill budget."

Mr Price said savings would be found without job cuts, and that the service to the people of Teesside would not be affected.

Cleveland Police Authority chairman Ken Walker said: "We need to discover how this situation has arisen.

"I will be asking the Audit Commission to assist us in carrying out a detailed and urgent investigation."