UNDER-fire Home Secretary John Reid performed a U-turn yesterday when he ripped up the strict timetable to create a single North-East police force by April.

Dr Reid told police chiefs he was abandoning his predecessor Charles Clarke's pledge to force an order through Parliament before MPs leave Westminster in July.

Only an order in July would give the Home Office enough time to get a newly-merged North-East force in place for the start of the next financial year.

Instead, Dr Reid told the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) he was now prepared to move at a "slightly different pace" in areas where there is strong opposition.

Those areas include the North-East, where the Dur-ham and Northumbria forces back merger, but the Cleveland force says it will fight the plan in the courts.

Behind the scenes, Dr Reid's aides made clear that a "slightly different pace" meant scrapping the plan to force through an order as early as July.

But they insisted the new Home Secretary still believed there was a need to create strategic forces.

Dr Reid told Acpo's annual conference: "I believe that strategic forces will bring additional benefits. The status quo is not an option. I know the destination that we want to arrive at. What we have to do is work out how we complete that journey and at what speed."

Earlier, Dr Reid confused many in his audience when he said: "We may start off going from A to B at a slightly different pace, in a slightly different vehicle and with more people on the bus than originally anticipated."

His words appeared to confirm that he is still looking for the best way forward on mergers.

Police forces that volunteered to merge could be given priority to go ahead earlier than others in the first wave, Dr Reid said.

It would then be down to Police Minister Tony McNulty to persuade remaining forces of the benefits and to hammer out the detail.

If North-East forces are not ordered to merge in July, it would mean a delay of at least three months, because MPs do not return to Westminster until October 9.

Cleveland's opposition to a region-wide force has triggered consultation and will force the Home Office to bring an order before Parliament to force through the merger.

David McLuckie, chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, said: "I hope the amalgamation orders will now be withdrawn for 12 months and we can look again at all the different options on the table."

In North Yorkshire, a federal constabulary letting North Yorkshire Police retain its identity while co-operating with neighbouring forces is being examined as an alternative to a merger.

Hambleton Distict Council leader Arthur Barker said: "With the change in Home Secretary and the information that we are getting, we think it's more likely now that we may be able to retain the North Yorkshire identity in some form or other."

But Carl Les, chairman of North Yorkshire Police Authority's community engagement board, said : "When North Yorkshire Police were looking at what the various options might be one of them was a federation of forces, but it did not score as highly as a full merger.

"With a full merger everybody is working to the same agenda. With a federation you have to make sure all the agendas are pulling in the same direction and there is always a possibility they are not."