MANY people will be shocked at the hefty bill that's landed on the taxpayer for the policing of September's English Defence League rally in Keighley.

That £207,041 would have paid for a few extra neighbourhood officers on the beat, or other initiatives in the town to tackle and help prevent crime.

Few will criticise the police over the cost.

Some may claim that drafting-in more than 550 officers, including a significant contingent from outside the West Yorkshire force area, and putting a large part of the town centre in lockdown was an overreaction.

But our boys and girls in blue have a duty to uphold the law and protect the public, and given the scenes which have been witnessed at some similar gatherings in other parts of the country, they couldn't take any chances.

And barring a few arrests for minor public order offences, everything passed off peacefully. Justification, the police would say, for their high turnout.

Imagine the outcry there would have been if police cover had been minimal that day and all hell had broken loose.

What we should be doing is examining if there are lessons that can be learned and whether there's a need to call for changes 'higher up the chain'.

In a democratic society, you can't simply ban demonstrations. That would erode the values we as a nation hold so dear.

However, funding issues in relation to the policing of such events should be scrutinised and questions asked at Government level.

After all, West Yorkshire didn't 'choose' to host this protest.