A CAMPAIGN to save Merseyside and Cheshire police forces from the threat of merger was launched by the Liberal Democrats yesterday.

They warned that vital local knowledge of crime problems would be lost if the Home Office implemented proposals to amalgamate forces.

Activists at the party's Blackpool conference were urged to send a "hands off" message to Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

The merger threat arose last week, when a study warned that no force with fewer than 4,000 officers could tackle the new threats of terror and organised crime.

That list includes Cheshire force, with just 2,207 officers, which could be expected to join with neighbouring Merseyside. However, Mr Clarke has suggested the 43 forces could be slashed to as few as 20, raising the prospect of an even bigger shake-up.

Mark Oaten, the Lib-Dems' home affairs spokesman, won applause from delegates for calling for a grassroots campaign to save local forces.

He warned: "We should be making then more local, not more distant. "People want to have the confidence that police know the area, that chief constables will visit and know every town and village in their area."

Mr Oaten accepted that some smaller forces struggled to cope with the demands of modern policing, but insisted mergers were the wrong way forward.

He added: "We say keep the forces as they are, but provide a national resources unit with senior officers and experts to provide back-up in complex cases.

"So Home Office, hands off our local forces. Let's keep them as they are. We don't want Clarke police, we want community police."

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found small forces had too few officers to act on intelligence about organised crime.

And it warned they would struggle to carry out "Soham-style" investigations which spark "severe surges in spending".

Mr Clarke has insisted "super-forces" can be created without sacrificing the drive for greater neighbourhood policing.

He has pledged to give every community a "local policing team" by 2008,, a small group of officers working closely with local councillors.

Mr Oaten also called for all 16-year-olds to be sent on community service, spending one month away from home on voluntary projects.

The scheme would cut anti-social behaviour by taking teenagers unable to enjoy a gap year "away from estates or troublesome peer groups".

Mr Oaten accused the Government of failing to tackle the root causes of the problem and relying on "quick fix" solutions such as anti-social behaviour orders.

He ridiculed Prime Minister Tony Blair for backing a ban on "hoodies" at a shopping centre as part of his "re-spect" agenda.