A hike in council tax is on the cards to help pay for 145 more police officers across the county.

The Home Office has today granted Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) flexibility to increase council tax by £15 a year.

It has also announced a £10.1m increase in the grant allocated to Kent Police, to help fund 145 new officers.

Kent's PCC, Matthew Scott has welcomed the news.

He said: “I am optimistic that this is a good settlement for policing in Kent.

"It will mean that I will have helped deliver over 800 more police since I was elected in 2016.

"This has been achieved with the support of local council tax payers and working with the government to make the case for an increase in police numbers.

“We have more police in Kent than ever before, and when this next uplift is delivered, we will have 205 more officers than in 2010.

"You have the opportunity to influence where these officers will be deployed by completing my Annual Policing Survey, which can be found at www.makingkentsafer.co.uk.”

The rise in the PCC's council tax precept will equate to about £1.25 a month for the average Band D property.

The additional 145 announced today will take the total number of Kent police officers to 3,992 by March 2022.

Kent Police will publish a formal budget plan in January.

To get the latest updates in ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here

Read more: All the latest news from Kent