New Home Secretary John Reid has indicated he will drop controversial plans for a merger between Cheshire and Merseyside police forces.
Newspapers were in uproar last week when Barry Loveday, an academic from Portsmouth University, said the Government's plans could force 25,000 police job cuts nationwide.
The Home Office strategy proposed several mergers across the country. Leaders of both police forces protested, but now-sacked Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the mergers would go ahead with or without their consent.
His successor, John Reid, now says he is "not convinced" by the plans, which fail to offer "more police on the beat, more accountability and more community control".
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