POLICE officers in Suffolk do not want the county's force amalgamated with those in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk into one 'superforce.'That is the view of Chief Insp Liz Pettman, who takes over as chairman of the Suffolk Police Federation next month.

POLICE officers in Suffolk do not want the county's force amalgamated with those in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk into one 'superforce.'

That is the view of Chief Insp Liz Pettman, who takes over as chairman of the Suffolk Police Federation next month.

Mrs Pettman, who has been with Suffolk Constabulary for 28 years, said she believed neither officers nor the public would benefit from the establishment of an East Anglian force.

"I am purely speculating, but I feel the view of the majority of police officers is that they want Suffolk Constabulary to remain as it is," she said.

The idea had been suggested by former Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Ben Gunn some months ago and Suffolk Police Authority chairman Christie Laverock revealed the force had been contacted by the neighbouring forces over the possibility of amalgamating.

Mrs Laverock said joining forces "was not something we wanted to look into" and Mrs Pettman added her support to that view.

She said: "I believe there would be some advantages in terms of scale as far as senior management was concerned. There would only be one Chief Constable, one director of human resources, and so on.

"But, despite those savings, we would still need the same number of staff and police officers. We have a very successful force at the moment, which is high performing, and there would be no real benefit to our work, or the people of Suffolk, to amalgamate."

Mrs Pettman, 44, begins her new job on November 4, taking over from Pc Chris Sadler, who has taken up a community policing role in Bungay.

Mrs Pettman, who is married to Stephen, was educated at Stowmarket Grammar School and joined the Suffolk force as a cadet in 1974.

She said: "Performance is very good and this is one of the safest counties in England and Wales. That's what we are building on."