CHESHIRE police chiefs have welcomed an announcement by Home Secretary John Reid that a time scale for controversial restructuring of the police has been relaxed.
Dr Reid accepted concerns about the short-time scale which police authorities had to consider the proposals and consult their communities on the issue, and said no enforced police force mergers would have to be enacted before the summer Parliamentary recess.
Chairman of Cheshire Police Authority Peter Nurse, said: 'This is a welcome step, which will enable the authority to give more time to consider these far reaching proposals. The authority, however, remains concerned at the current proposals for a merger with Merseyside as they stand, particularly in relation to the financial aspects of the proposals.
'However, we accept that the status quo is not an option and will use this extra time to look at the best way forward, which may involve closer collaboration with Merseyside and Manchester police forces.'
