THE Chief Constable of Cheshire is urging the public to put forward their views about a proposed merger.

The Home Secretary believes the current 43 forces in England and Wales are not addressing serious criminality appropriately and has called for those with fewer than 4,000 officers to merge with neighbouring teams.

Now Ch Con Peter Fahy, who believes an amalgamation would improve the Cheshire force, said the public only have until the end of the month to voice opinions.

He said: "Maintaining the status quo is just not an option. It doesn't make sense for forces to be developing their own individual policies and at the moment we are considering all options as to how we can improve the current system.

"A merger with North Wales has been ruled out as it is outside the local government authority and we appear to rule out Staffordshire because there is not a great deal of connection with the way criminals move.

"We see a lot more cross border crime with Merseyside and Manchester."

But Ch Con Fahy said he would favour a north west regional force ahead of a merger.

He added: "It would mean greater ability to develop specialist capabilities to deal with serious crime, emergency planning and counter terrorism which are the issues which led to the Home Secretary's decision.

"Policing is going to suffer financially next year and it is crucial we can access the latest technology and forensics to detect crimes and this expense cannot be met by small forces.

"We want the people of Cheshire to have the confidence their force can deal with serious criminality. The current structure means it is difficult for each force to develop expertise.

"We need to bridge the gap between public expectation and what we can actually deliver and a larger force could help."

But Ch Con Fahy said community policing remains a priority.

He said: "It's not about Cheshire Police, but about Northwich Police and Crewe Police, and even with a merger resources would be ring fenced so areas would not lose their officers.

"We want people to get to know their local officer and contact them when they do not need an immediate response. The glue that used to stick communities together is no longer there and that is what people want.

"I see a three-tier structure where a strategic head would perform a leadership role and deal with specialist serious crimes and then there would be a local governing authority and the final level would be neighbourhood policing teams.

"There would be a golden thread between the tiers which would work together to solve crimes and therefore existing resources could be directed better."

A joint authority call centre, involving social services and housing associations, is also suggested, so administrative policing staff could be reinvested more efficiently in the force.

A final business plan must be submitted by December 20 and the Home Secretary will make a decision early next year. A new force would come into play in autumn 2008.