Axed Dorset Police merger cost revised from £500k to £250k

Martyn Underhill said he had been left frustrated by the decision to end the merger plan

About £250,000 was spent preparing Dorset Police force for a merger with Devon and Cornwall Police which was later abandoned.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martyn Underhill initially revealed a "ball-park" figure of £500,000 at a meeting on Monday.

The figure for the move preparations was later revised by Mr Underhill's office.

Devon and Cornwall PCC Alison Hernandez stopped the plans in October.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Dorset PCC's office said the total figure was in fact £250,000 with the cost split with Devon and Cornwall Police.

The statement said: "A small team coordinated the merger programme, bringing together work from across both forces to produce a Full Business Case for the merger.

"It was agreed that, due to the relative sizes of the two police forces, Devon and Cornwall Police would fund 70% of the merger programme and 30% would be funded by Dorset Police."

Mr Underhill previously said he believed the axed merger had also cost Dorset more than 100 extra police officers.

He said the extra officers would have been provided due to the savings from the merger - estimated to be £70m over 10 years.

He also admitted he had been left "frustrated" by the decision to end the merger plan, the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] reported.

Mr Underhill added support for the merger was higher in Dorset than in Devon and Cornwall where there was also opposition from councillors.

Alison Hernandez previously said she had stopped the merger plans because there would not be enough benefit to communities in Devon and Cornwall to justify the resulting increase in council tax.