LOCAL MP Jeremy Hunt has attacked the controversial proposals to merge Surrey Police with at least one of its neighbours.
Four options have been put forward by Home Secretary Charles Clarke for mergers with different combinations of Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.
This follows the Home Secretary's request for police forces with fewer than 4,000 police officers to merge with neighbouring forces.
Mr Clarke has argued that the current police structure is "no longer fit for purpose" and needs to be bigger to deal with larger problems and crimes.
The most viable option of the four is thought to be a £29 million merger with Sussex but Surrey Police and Surrey Police Authority have opposed this.
Instead both have challenged the government to tackle the fundamental problem of underfunding so it can fulfil the role the government wishes without the need for a merger.
Mr Hunt is supporting Surrey Police and is arguing strongly against the proposals that he believes will seriously damage the relationship between local communities and the police.
"As the bonds between communities and their police forces disappear, local accountability will be eroded," said Mr Hunt.
"We should avoid modernising the police service into something distant and unresponsive.
"We need true local policing, rather than police regionalisation, if we are to tackle crime effectively."