Clarke's never visited Gwent Police

An Argus campaign demanding "hands off our police force" has won widespread support from those who are opposed to the change, including many local politicians.

Now the Argus has learned that since Mr Clarke became home secretary in December 2004, he has not once been to Gwent to assess local policing in person.

Peter Law, independent AM and MP for Blaenau Gwent, said: "This shows he has no interest in the view of ordinary people. "He has already ignored the comments of directly elected MPs, AMs and local authorities. It's a disgraceful reflection on him."

Mr Law also highlighted Gwent Police's high performance and excellent detection record. He said: "Gwent Police is a superb force and it has my full support."

David Davies, Conservative MP and AM for Monmouth, described the home secretary's approach as "a total mistake".

Mr Davies said: "Presumably Mr Clarke hasn't visited Gwent because he feels it is too far for him to travel from London.

"But the chief constable of an all-Wales force would have a lot farther to travel on worse roads between North and South Wales. "This is an indictment of increasing centralisation which means decisions being made from London without any idea of how the practicalities will work."

All four forces including Gwent rejected the plans to move ahead with a single force, citing concerns over the speed of change, funding and community policing.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary did visit South Wales in 2005 and has also had a series of meetings with MPs, the Assembly, police forces and the Welsh office about proposals to merge the Welsh forces."

This is the only visit Mr Clarke has made to Wales since becoming home secretary, and the Home Office said they were unable to give further details about the visit.