POLICE chiefs have said having fewer forces would be the best option – as Wiltshire’s police duties are increasingly shared with Avon and Somerset as part of a strategic alliance.

Sara Thornton, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, has said 70,000 police posts will have been lost by 2020 as forces around the country scale back as a result of budget cuts of 25 per cent from central government, In response, Wiltshire and Avon and Somerset have embarked on a strategic alliance, sharing traffic officers, major crimes and dogs units in order to pool resources.

Both forces have said they are not considering a merger.

Chief Constable Thornton said: “We have to make fundamental changes to the way we police otherwise we will fail in our service to the public and unacceptably stress our staff. Improving the way we procure equipment and services will save us some money, as will sharing more within and outside policing.

“So there will be more collaboration between forces, within regions or through joint teams with other agencies like social services.

“But they won’t solve the problem alone. We are working with others with a stake in policing to develop a medium term for how policing needs to transform and work with other parts of the public sector. With regard to mergers, most would agree that fewer forces is the best option, but if the desire is to maintain 43 then forces will need to collaborate more.

“Collaboration is already happening. There are numerous examples of sharing staff, buildings and equipment, some with other organisations and some with other police forces. Two thirds of forces are already co-located with other organisations or have plans to do so.

“The process would be helped by there being a new statutory provision that allows forces that want to work together to amalgamate.”

But Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said a merger was not happening.

“It’s important to stress that Wiltshire Police and Avon and Somerset Police are not merging. Both will retain their own leadership and identity,” he said.

“This strategic alliance will look at how we could share more of our resources.

“Local policing – which we know is so important to our communities – would continue to be delivered locally in response to communities’ needs.

A spokesman for the office of the PCC said: “Each of the forces has had to find substantial savings and, although this has not been easy, these have been achieved.

“We anticipate further savings will have to be found by 2018-19 and hope by collaborating the impact on the delivery of frontline services will be lessened.”