Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) David Lloyd announced he plans to increase his council tax precept.

However, he has not said how much the increase will be.

Mr Lloyd wrote in an open letter he hopes to increase the policing precept in the next financial year - April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 - to “meet the pressures that are coming through rather than to seek cuts”.

According to Mr Lloyd, the average cost of running the constabulary costs more than £200 million a year.

He said: “Should I be given the flexibility to raise the council tax precept, I am minded to do so in such a way that provides certainly to the constabulary and avoid cuts when we are working to expand the force.

“It is a positive year, as we know there is an increase in funding for additional officers, but that does also come with additional costs.

“Hertfordshire is getting a significantly larger police force and the costs of running it will go up proportionately.

“There are also the standstill pressures, including inflation and statutory pay rises that need to be budgeted for.”

Mr Lloyd said he was not able to give more details about his proposed budget due the delay in the confirmation of central government funding for 2020/21, the uplift to funding for new officers and the flexibility to raise the precept.

He said a full report will be released by the end of February.

The PCC is responsible for setting the police budget and has the discretion to lower the precept, keep it the same or raise it.

Last year, Mr Lloyd increased the precept by £2 a month for the average Band D property, which he promised would bring in an extra 75 frontline police officers.