The commander of Essex Police's G division - which includes Brentwood - has hinted that forthcoming boundary changes may not be the last.

From April 1 G division - which covers Brentwood, Ongar, Harlow and Epping - will expand to include the parts of the Epping Forest District Council area which are currently under Metropolitan Police control, including Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell.

And speaking at the launch of the changes last week, Supt Andrew Drane hinted that there could be more changes to come, with Brentwood at the heart of them.

Rumours that the town could one day be transferred from G division to the neighbouring Thurrock division have been growing in recent months, and Supt Drane has refused to rule it out.

He said: "I am aware of these suggestions, and there is nothing planned at the moment, but it is likely that during the coming 12 months Essex Police will be looking at its internal boundaries to see if there is anywhere that savings and improvements in efficiency could be made."

Second largest

Meanwhile, the April boundary changes, which are being introduced as a result of the decision to create a Greater London Assembly, will make G-division the second largest in the county in terms of resources and manpower.

And although the changes have led to fears that Brentwood could be sidelined in the struggle for those resources, divisional commander Supt Drane insists that it will actually improve the situation.

He said: "There will be no reduction in the number of police officers we have got in the Brentwood area. In fact I would argue that it will benefit. It will have the same amount of resources as now but if there is a problem in Brentwood there will be a bigger pool to draw on."

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