Kent crime commissioner Ann Barnes says she is considering asking taxpayers to pay more to help recruit extra firearms officers in the face of the ongoing terrorist threat.

Kent Police is one of a handful of forces the government says will have the option to increase the tax people pay for policing by an additional £5.

The commissioner said one option would be to use the extra money to pay for more firearms officers.

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The government has said it expects all forces to increase the number of armed officers by 50% after a series of terrorist atrocities.

Mrs Barnes was talking at a conference today discussing how Kent Police should address the challenge of declining budgets.

While the Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement that police forces would be spared budget cuts, the Home Secretary Theresa May says the police must continue to make savings over the next four years.

VIDEO: 'Pay £5 for more armed Kent police officers' - Ann Barnes

Mrs Barnes said Kent was the “at the forefront of Europe” and had particular challenges in tackling cross border crime and its vulnerability to terrorism.

“We need to invest in firearms officers and the equipment they need. A 50% increase would be 37 more but we can’t wait for officers to be trained, we have to have enough people to respond and keep us safe,” she said.

"We absolutely need more firearms officers; they are the first response" - police chief Alan Pughsley

The commissioner has already outlined a draft proposal for an increase in the police levy of just under 2% but that could be increased to 3.4% - allowing the force to raise an extra £2.9m.

The average police tax for Kent residents this year is £147.15 for homes in Band D.

Kent chief constable Alan Pughsley said the challenge for the force was responding to the changing nature of terrorist attacks.

“The difficulty is the nature of the attack. That is a significant shift and challenge. How do we respond to the increase? We absolutely need more firearms officers; they are the first response.”

Mr Pughsley told the conference that the prolonged budget squeeze had meant that police officers were no longer sent to incidents automatically, with 52% dealt with over the telephone. However, that had not led to a decrease in satisfaction ratings.

The government is expected to provide details next week of how much money each police force will get to spend in 2016-2017.