Council tax in London could rise by £33.80 a year to pay for more police and the 2012 Olympics.

Under the mayor's latest budget, a 13.3% increase in his share of council tax would cost a Band D household an extra 65p a week.

Of the 65p, 38p will help pay for the London Olympic Games. The remaining 27p includes:

  • 21p for the roll-out of dedicated police teams to each London neighbourhood;
  • 3p for six new fire rescue units; and
  • more than 2p for extra police at railway stations.

The London Assembly still has to approve the budget at a meeting next week.

Last year the City Hall's precept increased by 26p, the year before by 33p and in 2003/04 by 97p. Yet there was no "Olympic" tax then.

89 more police at stations

When he announced the budget on Tuesday, mayor Ken Livingstone said he set aside £3.6 million for 89 more British Transport Police (BTP) officers at overland stations.

The move comes amidst mounting fears for passenger safety. Last month City lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce was stabbed to death near the unstaffed Kensal Green station, minutes after another man was robbed on the station platform.

Officers will target violent crime on the Bakerloo line from Queens Park to the end of the line, including Kensal Green.

They will also be deployed at Silverlink services in north London and along railways in south London - home of the capital's most dangerous stations.

They will join 1,170 officers already patrolling London's Tube and train network. Security investment of about £10 million over each of the last three years has seen the capital's transport police increase by more than half.

Brent South MP Dawn Butler, whose constituency includes several of the affected stations on the Bakerloo Line, welcomed the announcement. "The public want more people on the system, not just cameras," she said.

£146 million more for policing

Mr Livingstone said his budget was aimed at a "safer and more secure London".

The city's overall policing budget has grown by £146 million, mostly funded by government grants. In the wake of the London bombings the government has given an extra £30 million for counter-terrorism.

The main policing item paid for by Londoners is the completion of the Safer Neighbourhoods project. At a total cost of £32 million (21p a week for Band D households), every ward will have its own six-strong police team by next April.

"These measures are another big step towards cracking down on crime and anti-social behaviour," the mayor said.