SENIOR officers at Durham Constabulary have been told to rethink controversial plans to shake up policing boundaries.

The force's chiefs clashed with council officials in Darlington over proposals which would lead to a North-South divide in County Durham.

A consultation document is proposing two divisions instead of the existing six, in a move the force insists will make big financial savings, which would be re-invested in the front line.

The two divisional headquarters would be in Chester-le-Street and Darlington, but local authority leaders in the latter town are furious at the plans.

Darlington Borough Council leader Councillor John Williams told Assistant Chief Constable Ron Hogg that the proposals could damage existing good relations between the two organisations.

"You haven't paid enough attention to the fact that Darlington is completely different to the rest of County Durham," he said.

He argued that, since Darlington won unitary status many successful partnerships had been forged. They could be threatened, he warned.

The council believes the police review is flawed and fears that, with one large division covering Darlington and other districts, there will be a great deal of suspicion about use of resources.

With 40 per cent of the force area's heroin addicts and a third of its young offenders, officials are worried about a potential decrease in crime-fighting ability in Darlington.

But Assistant Chief Constable Hogg insisted that beat officers and sergeants, accessibility of police stations and partnership arrangements would remain unchanged, and later improved upon.

He said: "Darlington has the highest rate of crime per head of the population in the force area.

"To reduce resources would constitute policing madness and that is something I am not prone to.

"Hold us to account by all means, but we are not proposing something that we believe will fail."

A fall-back option offers a three way split with headquarters at Peterlee, taking in Newton Aycliffe and Seaham.