JOHN Reid has enough on his plate dealing with the shambles which surrounds him at the Home Office without having to face the distraction of a protracted battle with chief constables over the reorganisation of police forces.

The new Home Secretary found himself in the extraordinary position yesterday of having to concede that the immigration service is not fit for purpose.

His priority must be to restore public confidence in the wake of a series of scandals, including the release on to the streets of scores of dangerous foreign prisoners who should have faced deportation.

We will, therefore, not be surprised if he shelves the proposed amalgamation of police forces to give himself breathing space.

It is, however, an issue which will not go away. Here in the North-East, we have the chief constables of Durham and Northumbria passionately arguing that a regional police force is the best way to fight organised crime. They have already asked their departments to start planning for that restructure.

Can a Home Secretary really ignore that kind of advice, even if Cleveland's chief constable takes the opposite view?

People living in this region are mainly concerned about officers on the beat and local accountability. Most of them will not lose sleep over force mergers being put off.

But it is a debate that is far from concluded. And once Mr Reid has shored up the crumbling Home Office, it is an issue to which he will have to return.