David Ruffley MP has today welcomed the news that the Home Secretary, John Reid, has delayed plans for the merger of police forces until the autumn.

A financial forecast drawn up for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recently suggested the merger could cost up to £600 million and, due to a funding shortfall, the equivalent of 25,000 police officers may be lost to pay for the amalgamation.

Suffolk Constabulary is due to be merged with forces in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The Home Secretary had previously indicated he hoped to proceed with the mergers before the summer recess.

David said:

'I welcome the delay to these mergers, they were moving to a ridiculously fast time table. However, the Government now needs to take the next step and scrap these unwelcome and unnecessary amalgamations altogether.

'Regional forces will cost millions, erode local accountability and further increase the inept interference of Whitehall. These cuts are being forced through without the backing of the public- by a Government that has lost the support of the British people.

'The people of Suffolk do not want this merger- it could lead to taxpayers paying for second rate services as officers are forced to police crime hot spots such as Peterborough. It is yet another ridiculous piece of bureaucratic nonsense from the Civil Servants in the corridors of Whitehall, many of whom are completely out of touch with rural communities such as Suffolk.

'In a survey I conducted via my website www.tellDavidRuffley.com over 95 percent of the 642 people who took part stated they would rather retain Suffolk Constabulary in its current form.

'The Home Secretary should not be allowed to force these mergers through- local people should have the chance to have their say in a referendum. Given the opportunity, I believe they would overwhelmingly reject these cuts, just as John Prescott's regional assemblies were thrown out in the 2004 North East referendum.'