Shropshire and Telford’s police divisions will be run more effectively despite the loss of nearly 300 jobs across West Mercia Police, the chief constable said today.

Paul West, chief constable of West Mercia Police said despite the planned changes, including the axing of the divisional commander roles, the public service would not be affected.

Shropshire divisional commander Chief Superintendent Andy Rowsell and Telford divisional commander Temporary Chief Superintendent James Tozer will both move on to different roles in the force and be replaced with Superintendent Peter Lightwood in Shropshire and Superintendent Gary Higgins in Telford.

Mr West said the changes aimed to “free up the police commanders to be police officers and not senior managers”.

He said plans to save up to £10million in the next three years was not a “knee-jerk response to the economic climate but a culmination of two years work”.

He said the changes would mean he could offer a “seamless” police service.

Mr West said: “This is a genuine intention to enhance the quality of the service.

“Immediately people won’t notice any difference but over time the public will notice improvements.”

The top officer said as part of the present system if an incident happened in Shropshire the nearest officers would come from within the division, despite officers being closer in neighbouring divisions.

He said despite the divisional structure having some “great advantages” it had not made “great sense to the public”.

Mr West said officers from across the force divisions would now be able to work together in incidents where more officers were needed.

He said victims of crime would eventually find the procedure they endure much more simply.

“Right now if you are unfortunate to be a victim of crime you go through a victim journey which is very fragmented but we are hoping they will get a much more seamless service in the future,” he said.

Staff across the force have been involved in the consultation process and have been asked for their ideas on best ways to save money, he said.

But he assured the public they would not lose their police officers on the beat.

“Whatever reductions in staff numbers we are planning none of these will be coming from uniformed operational patrol,” he said.

He said the biggest loss would come from police officers who hold training roles and from senior officers­.

By Crime Correspondent Kirsty Smallman