A SENOR Assembly minister says the Home Office should consider merging Gwent Police with the South Wales force.

Social justice minister Edwina Hart has suggested such a merger - which fits in with Home Office strategy - would be more efficient.

But Gwent Police Authority says it will oppose any merger plan and creating one large police force for the region would only cause problems. When Gwent Fire Service was abolished in 1996, the new South Wales authority headquarters was established near Pontyclun.

If the police forces merged, it could see the new service headquarters move from Cwmbran outside the Gwent area. Mrs Hart made the suggestion in the Assembly administration's response to a Home Office Green Paper on the future of the police in England and Wales.

Ms Hart, AM for Gower, said this week: "In my response to the Green Paper I have raised the question of whether it might be more efficient for the boundaries of the four Welsh police forces to be withdrawn to match those of the other emergency services."

But Gwent police authority says it will strongly resist such a move. Gary Fowler, assistant clerk of the authority said: "This idea is news to us and we received no prior warning of it. We do not believe there is any evidence to suggest a merger would be beneficial to anyone.

"Gwent Police has been so successful because it is close to the community it serves, any restructuring that led to a much larger force would only create distance between people and the force. We believe that would be contrary to the objectives of the Green Paper, which calls for closer ties between forces and their communities."

Newport West Assembly Member Rosemary Butler added: "Gwent Police have an excellent reputation and I would have to be persuaded that a merger would improve the service in Gwent. It is seen as a local force and I think that it should probably remain that way."

But a Home Office spokeswoman said the minister's suggestion fits the government's overall strategy.

"The government believes that the time has come to look at whether the 43 forces in England and Wales might be rationalised. We are looking particularly at whether smaller forces could be merged."