NEARLY £340,000 was wasted on the aborted merger proposals for Cheshire Police - and there are fears the constabulary will never get the money back.

Home Secretary John Reid may have pulled the plug on Cheshire's unpopular proposed union with Merseyside weeks ago.

But Cheshire Police Authority is still looking to recoup the costs of a massive public consultation exercise and legal fees, which amount to £339,767 and included staff time, consultations and legal costs, from Whitehall.

Clr Peter Walker, vice-chairman, confirmed that the authority, which opposed the merger with Merseyside, was "exceedingly cross" over the losses, adding: "We've spent a great deal of money which could have been put into local policing, which is what we are concentrating on."

The loss is equivalent to employing around 11 community support officers.

Clr Walker is not confident that the force will recover the total amount.

"If you add together the cash spent by all of the forces in England and Wales on this (£11.5m), it is quite a considerable sum of money," he added.