Police merger scrapped as chiefs bicker

A PLANNED merger of two police forces in an attempt to save taxpayers £12 million will be scrapped, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

The Home Office wanted the two forces to unite by 2020 as part of nationwide efficiency savings.

But discussions between Alison Hernandez, the police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, and Martyn Underhill, her opposite number for Dorset, were understood to have broken down this week with the pair now at “loggerheads” over funding.

A crime panel was due to meet on Oct 8 to vote on whether to merge the two, to create the fifth largest force in the country.

A unanimous vote is needed from local authorities and police chiefs for the merger to go ahead.