West Mercia Police has produced its own business plan

West Midlands, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire forces support a merger which would create the second biggest force in England and Wales.

But West Mercia Police, recently ranked as the top-performing police force, said the new force would be "too big".

It claims it already meets eight out of nine of the government's criteria.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has been criticised over plans to merge the current 43 forces in England and Wales to form just 12.

'Complex challenges'

He insists mergers will help police combat terrorism and organised crime.

West Mercia's business plan, which will be submitted to the Home Office on Friday, includes a �2.9m investment to employ more specialist officers to combat serious and organised crime, including terrorism.

It would create 79 new police posts and 16 new police staff posts by 2006/7 with further investment by 2007/8.

The document is also set to include an extra 300 Police Community Support Officers.

The force, which covers the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, says the investments can be delivered without set-up costs, merger or disruption.

Paul West, Chief Constable of West Mercia Constabulary, said every force had to consider the merger according to its individual characteristics.

"We have listened to the home secretary's concerns regarding the varied and complex challenges that policing in the 21st Century presents," he said.

"In the time available to us we have researched all the merger options, consulted the public and all our partners.

"Given the complex nature of this issue, it should not be a surprise, nor be a matter of concern, that different professional opinions have emerged, both here and elsewhere in the country."

'National consultation'

Paul Deneen, chairman of West Mercia Police Authority, said: "The home secretary has given an assurance that he will carefully consider both options submitted by the forces in the West Midlands region.

"In common with the Association of Police Authorities, we have serious concerns about the speed at which this process has been driven by the home secretary and the effectiveness of consultation nationally."

Warwickshire is the smallest of the four forces in the region, covering 762 sq miles and a population of 506,200. It employs 1,007 officers and 622 support staff.

Staffordshire covers an area spanning 1,048 sq miles containing 1,058,269 residents. It has 2,320 officers and 1,360 staff.

West Mercia has the biggest area to police: 2,868 sq miles. Its population is 1,200,000 and there are 2,389 officers and 1,637 people employed by the force.

West Midlands police is the largest of the four covering 348 sq miles with a population of 2,630,000. It has 8,057 officers and 3,882 support staff.