POLICING bills could be cut by almost £30 for Worcestershire householders if West Mercia Constabulary is merged into a West Midlands superforce.

The police precept for the county's Band D council tax-payers would drop from £143 to £115 if the costs of the proposed new force are shared out across the West Midlands.

Finance chiefs at West Mercia Police Authority made the calculations as they studied the implications of being swallowed up in a West Midlands strategic force.

County residents who oppose the move might take heart that it should at least cut the part of their council tax bills which goes into police coffers.

Helen Lewington, of Collings Avenue, Warndon Villages, Worcester, shares her Band D property with husband Mark, aged 37, and their two children.

The 38-year-old said she was all for the change if it meant paying less council tax.

"I don't see the problem with having a larger force. I believe if I dialled 999 because we had been burgled or we needed help someone would come and as long as they did it wouldn't matter from which force.

"I really don't see there would be much of a difference and if it means we can save £30, that's an added bonus that I would welcome."

West Mercia is fighting such a shake-up, outnumbered by the three other forces in the region who are thought to be pushing for it.

The force would prefer the second restructuring option that would see an 'enhanced' West Mercia, policing the same geographical area as today but to include significant investment to help stamp out serious and organised crime.

This year, police charged Band D residents in West Mercia £143.17, whereas in the West Midlands the precept was just £83.68.

Warwickshire's police precept was also lower, at £132.52, while Staffordshire's was marginally higher, at £145.28.

Standardising the bills across the West Midlands region of 2005/6 would have meant a common police precept for Band D residents of £115.95.

This is a £27.22 cut for West Mercia residents, made up by a £32.27 increase in the West Midlands. The Home Office has not revealed how funding arrangements will work when police forces are restructured.

But Worcester MP Michael Foster said: "It would be an untenable position for people in Worcestershire to be paying a higher precept for policing than residents in Birmingham."

A West Mercia Police Authority spokesman said the force was awaiting further guidance from the government and it was unclear how precepts would be collected if mergers took place.

l A public consultation into residents' views on a merger closed on Sunday but no results had been released when the Worcester News went to press.