RESIDENTS will have to pay £5 more council tax to Essex Police but will get more officers.

The force’s budget includes a 3.25 per cent rise in its part of council tax.

It is the equivalent of about an extra £5 for a band D property making an annual payment of £157.05.

The change means an extra £3.1 million will be available for police and crime commissioner Roger Hirst to spend.

About £1.5 million will be spent on employing an extra 41 police officers, raising the total to 2,850.

A report, by Mr Hirst, states: “There will be an additional 30 police officers for regular front line policing and the serious crime directorate.

“There will also be 11 additional firearms officers.”

Prime Minister Theresa May had asked forces to increase the number of firearms officers to combat terrorism following attacks in France.

Almost £400,000 will be spent trying to add an extra 182 Special Constables to the force. A Special is a trained but unpaid volunteer with powers to arrest.

Mr Hirst wants to increase the number from 350 to 532 next year and then up to 700.

About £500,000 will be spent improving the 101 telephone service including on extra staff for the control room.

About another £500,000 will be spent on tackling gangs, organised and cyber crime.

However the force still faces tremendous challenges. While the number of officers will rise to 2,850 there are still far fewer than the 3,600 in 2010.

An extra £3.1 million will be available from council tax but the Government is cutting its grants to Essex Police by £4.4 million.

Although the extra 11 firearms officers will be added, the number was slashed by 24 in 2014.

The extra Special Constables will not make up for the loss of hundreds of PCSOs.

There are attempts to make more money available by selling closed police stations and changing headquarters to cut costs and improve facilities.

It is also hoped officers will spend less time in police stations and more time in towns and villages with a £13 million mobile policing programme.