SURREY Police will gain an extra £3.3million due to a 1.99 per cent council tax increase proposed by Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley and approved by the county’s police and crime panel at County Hall.

Mr Hurley said: “While the Chancellor stated in his Autumn Statement there will be ‘real-term protection for police funding’, this was dependent on individual PCCs increasing the amount we ask the public to pay towards policing.

“I am delighted to have the support of the police and crime panel in this increase. This extra money – costing just £4.30 more per year for a band D household – will ensure Surrey Police have the tools they need to hunt down paedophiles, crack down on fraudsters who target the elderly and vulnerable in our society, and respond more quickly to emergency calls for help.”

Mr Hurley, who came under fire for criticising former Surrey Chief Constable Lynne Owens, has a second challenger standing in the May PCC elections for the next four-year term hopeful of unseating him.

Last week, MPs in Mole Valley and Reigate called on Mr Hurley to stand down following widespread criticism of his defence of his attempts to get Mrs Owens dismissed last year when she was Surrey police chief for presiding over a “litany of failures” revealed in highly critical inspection reports – made in a series of radio interviews.

Mrs Owens, who was subsequently promoted to director general of the National Crime Agency, issued a strong rebuttal, and the Home Office sprang to her defence, describing her as “one of the exceptional policing leaders of her generation”.

Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford said Mr Hurley should “resign and not stand as PCC for the next election”.

Reigate MP Crispin Blunt said he respected Mr Hurley’s experience as a retired Metropolitan Police superintendent but added: “The Conservative party was quite right to refuse Mr Hurley the Conservative nomination for PCC back in 2012. However, he was successfully elected as an independent.

“I am afraid he is not properly independent of the police he oversees and of their corporate interest.”