SIR - A few years ago, the Worcester News published a letter in which I sympathised with a police officer given responsibility for an area previously patrolled, in more law-abiding times, by a dozen policemen.

I believe that unfortunate individual was Dilip Sarkar (Worcester News, January 17). So, let no one question my support of localised policing. The conclusion may, however, be justifiably drawn that I am a dissatisfied monetary contributor to an inefficient system of resource deployment and management.

In the past 15 years, the number of police officers has risen by about 10 per cent nationally, yet one is rarely seen in our villages. The fault lies not with grass-root individuals, but in the manner in which they are motivated and employed. I am no supporter of this government and possess a genetic suspicion of all politicians. However, radical change is required to policing methods and the only available medium to achieve this is by central government initiative. Any previous attempt to do so has invariably been stifled at birth by vested interest; the last occasion being a report commissioned by the Conservative administration in the 1990s. Anyone who advocates the status quo and believes that standardised national policies are unnecessary should try convincing the parents of the Soham victims. Their little girls might still be alive if a centralised intelligence system had been in place to disseminate information instead of reliance upon the resources of two small constabularies .

DAVID J COLE,

Inkberrow, Worcestershire.