EIGHT Conservative MPs, including those representing Bromsgrove and Droitwich Spa, have united to fight Government plans to absorb West Mercia Constabulary into a new regional force.

Julie Kirkbride and Peter Luff are among the group against the proposals to create a new regional force covering the whole of the West Midlands.

Following a meeting in the House of Commons with West Mercia chief constable Paul West and West Mercia Police Authority chairman Paul Deneen, Ms Kirkbride and Mr Luff said the force was big enough and successful enough to stand on its own.

They said a West Midlands regional force would be over-centralised and out of touch with local needs across the region.

The MPs' key points include the fact that West Mercia has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, that local communities would have less say over police priorities and that a West Midlands regional force would take resources away from rural areas.

In a joint statement, Mr Luff and Ms Kirkbride said: "Scrapping West Mercia in favour of a regional police force might look good in a bureaucrat's briefing paper, but here on the ground in Worcestershire it would be a disaster.

"We all recognise the need for closer national co-ordination between forces but the Government's attempt to ram forces into a regional structure on the grounds of efficiency saving is a scam which needs to be exposed and stopped.

"We need greater local accountability for our police, not less."

The two MPs are now urging everyone in the county to object to the proposals.