THE head of Essex Police has denied rumours that the force is about to merge with Kent Police.

Chief constable Jim Barker-McCardle told a press conference that it was "not the obvious thing to do" despite on-going negotiations between the two organisations over sharing some resources.

The forces already jointly own a helicopter, and are currently in discussions about sharing more back room functions such as computer support.

Mr Barker-McCardle said: “merging is not the obvious thing to do. We are talking about collaborating on areas of business, which either save money to make the coppers go further, or collaborating on really complex and quite expensive areas of policing such as serious and organised crime.

“If anyone is talking about merging, they are not talking to me."

The rumours were triggered after Justice Secretary Jack Straw said earlier this month that some mergers were likely to take place as part of “organic” reforms to police service structures in England.