TWO North-East police forces could go it alone with controversial merger plans aimed at creating a new force - leaving a third out in the cold.

Police chiefs in Durham and Northumbria issued a joint statement that said they still favoured a single North-East force, including Cleveland, but were willing - at least for the time being - to explore a merger on their own.

The option, said to be as part of a "staged process leading to a larger regional force in the future", cast a further question mark over the future make-up of policing in the North-East.

Last night, Councillor Dave McLuckie, the chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, which has bitterly opposed a three-way merger, said the joint statement signalled a recognition that a single North-East force was a "dead duck".

But it is understood that Home Secretary Charles Clarke could still force through a three-way merger using existing legislation should he see fit, albeit with MPs' approval.

Coun McLuckie, who favours a smaller Tees Valley "city region" force combining Cleveland with south Durham, said: "Whatever spin others try to put on this development, the reality is that it is a vindication for the position which the Cleveland authority and force have taken throughout the debate."

Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart said: "Amalgamation is the only way to increase the level of all services we deliver to the people of the North-East.

"Without a strategic force, I believe neighbourhood policing would suffer. Through an amalgamation, resources could be freed up to safeguard both the policing of our communities and our fight against serious and organised crime."

Police authorities had been asked to submit final, detailed plans on proposed mergers, aimed at reducing the number of forces from 43 to as few as 12, to the Home Office by today.

But because of a row over who will meet the potentially huge costs of the mergers, nearly all those affected were submitting provisional plans only.

A recent report recommended forces of at least 4,000 officers to meet demands such as terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking, and also said existing forces should not be split. A merger of Durham and Northumbria police would meet this criteria, although a Tees Valley force would not.

The Cleveland force said it would not be making a final submission ahead of today's deadline and instead planned to write to the Home Office, setting out the progress it had made towards its option of a Tees Valley force.

North Yorkshire Police Authority has already made its submission and said it believed an amalgamation of all four forces in Yorkshire and Humberside was the best way forward for its area.