WEST Mercia police chiefs have been asked which force they would like to merge with to create a new regional super-constabulary.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday told them he agreed with a report which found forces with less than 4,000 officers are no longer "fit for purpose".

West Mercia, which has 2,380 officers, has now been ordered to draw up plans to create a larger constabulary taking in at least one neighbouring force.

Mr Clarke said that a HM Inspectorate of Constab-ulary report published on Friday, which envisages reducing the number of forces from 43 to about 30, would "shape the future of policing".

West Mercia is more likely to be amalgamated with a neighbouring force of a similar size, such as Warwick-shire, with has 1,012 officers, Gloucestershire (1,308) or Staffordshire (2,309).

West Mercia chief constable Paul West and police authority chairman Paul Deneen visited London yesterday to discuss the report.

After the meeting, Mr Clarke said: "I am now asking the leadership of every police force in the country to respond to the challenges set out by the HMIC report and make their proposals for the best way to create this new strategic framework.

"I am confident that the challenge will be met."

The move to larger regional police forces is likely to face fierce criticism from MPs when Parliament resumes next month.

But a West Mercia Consta-bulary spokeswoman said she could not make any comment on the meeting until Ch Insp West and Mr Deneen returned from London.

"There is a meeting of the police authority today so if there is any report to be made, I imagine it will be at that," she added.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has already questioned the accountability of larger-scale constabularies covering a wider swathe of the country.

But Mr Clarke stated that the enlargements would go hand in hand with a drive towards more local neighbourhood policing.

Mr Clarke said he envisaged a network of "basic command units" covering areas as small as two local authority wards, where officers and community support officers work alongside community figures.

He said: "This will allow residents to influence the policing in their areas so the crimes they are most worried about are dealt with."