West Mercia Police Authority’s agreement to enter into a “strategic alliance” with Warwickshire Police has merits.

Chief among them, in these financially straitened times, is that it will help save money – though both forces are keen to portray their partnership as more than a cost-cutting exercise.

It may also achieve one of the aims of former Home Secretary John Reid’s ill-fated attempt to merge police forces five years ago.

The driving force then was a desire to better position smaller constabularies for the demands of counter-terrorism operations and large-scale investigations such as the Soham murders.

Crucially with respect to this agreement, the people of Warwickshire will soon be contributing to the cost of policing Worcestershire.

Just how much of a say in the running of West Mercia Police will their political leaders require in return?

This is an area where a clear line in the sand must be drawn at the outset, for one thing must be sacrosanct – our police must remain directly accountable to the community they serve.