West Mercia Police status quo

The Leader of Herefordshire Council has reiterated his discomfort at possible plans to merge police forces across the west midlands into a single regional police force.

Cllr Roger Phillips says the move will lead to funding being drained away from the West Mercia Police force area - which includes Herefordshire - with a shift of funds to urban areas in and around Birmingham.

"West Mercia Police Authority is effective and efficient - it performs well and we want to keep it this way.

"Other forces West Mercia could have to merge with are debt-ridden and do not perform as well. This would be a retrograde step which would leach resources away from this county.

"These concerns are shared by Councils from both Worcestershire and Shropshire.

"We're also concerned at the proposed speed of change - a radical shake-up like this must be carefully thought through.

"We accept the police need to reconsider how they operate to tackle modern-day problems such as terrorism and computer fraud, but we do not want an ill-thought out knee-jerk reaction which will leave the rural shire counties with a less efficient police force," added Cllr Phillips.