THE vice-chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Authority is to be quizzed by the public in a unique surgery.

Graeme Robertson will be talking confidentially with individual people before next Wednesday's meeting of the York Community Policing Group (Cap).

It will be the first event of its kind held anywhere in the authority's area and Mr Robertson will be available from 6.15pm in the Novotel on Fishergate, in York city centre.

He said: "I know that the decision of the authority earlier this year to raise the council tax contribution by 41 per cent, to 50p a week on average, was unpopular with some people.

"However, once the facts about why the decision was reached became known the authority received a lot of support.

"The next meeting of the Cap group gives me a wonderful opportunity to speak personally to anyone still concerned about the matter and explain the reasons to them."