Tim Farron and Libby Bateman present petition to the Home Office opposing Cumbria Police merger plans

Local MP Tim Farron and the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of Cumbria Libby Bateman have presented a petition to the Home Office opposing the Government’s plans to merge Cumbria Police with other police forces across the North of England.

The Home Secretary is considering merging England’s 43 police constabularies into as few as 12 or 15 larger regional forces.

The plans raise fears that police resources in rural Cumbria could be diverted to tackle crime in urban areas in Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Durham, Greater Manchester or even further afield.

It comes as figures obtained by ITV Border show the extent of rural crime in the county, with report of a theft from a farm is made to Cumbria Police on average every two and a half days.

Libby said: “Our county is rural, dispersed and distinctive, and the challenges facing our communities are not the same as those facing big cities elsewhere in the North.

“At a time when farmers are already facing repeated thefts, the last thing Cumbria needs is for resources, decision-making and local knowledge to be pulled away from our communities. 

“This petition sends a clear message to the Home Office: keep Cumbria Police local.”

Tim added: “The Government should be strengthening rural policing, not gambling with it.

“Cumbria’s communities deserve officers who know the area, understand the pressures facing farmers and rural businesses, and can respond to local needs quickly.

“Merging Cumbria Police into a much larger regional force risks leaving our county as an afterthought. Libby and I were proud to take this petition to the Home Office and stand up for a properly resourced, locally accountable police force for Cumbria.”