TRADERS in a New Forest community fear a merger of their police with a neighbouring town is the first step to losing their police station completely.

Shopkeepers in New Milton have banded together to fight proposals to amalgamate the town's police station with the one in nearby Lymington from April.

Some of the officers currently based at New Milton will remain but the town's top cop, Inspector John Heath, will transfer to Lymington.

Now crime-hit businesses have launched a campaign to defeat the scheme, which they claim could lead to the closure of the New Milton station.

The New Forest's police chief, Superintendent Barry Talbot, has pledged, however, that no police station will close as a result of the changes, which have been in the pipeline for ten years.

The proposed merger follows a reallocation of resources.

This year, five police constable posts will go in the Forest - on top of five already lost through natural wastage last year - so that more money can be channelled into urban areas with higher crime figures.

The plans have angered New Milton traders. They say the streets are becoming no-go areas at night, with yobs causing mayhem and police already too thin on the ground to tackle the problem.

Sharon Worsfold of Pedals cycle shop and Jane Cane of accessories shop Etcetera are co-ordinating the campaign. They have written to more than 100 fellow traders warning them of their fears that the town will ultimately lose its police station, and asking for crime reports from the past 18 months to prove that New Milton needs more police.

Mrs Worsfold, whose cycle shop in Station Road has been attacked repeatedly by vandals, said: "The yobs break the glass so often that we always order replacements two at a time. Antisocial behaviour and criminal damage have escalated in the town in the last two years, and now I believe that the Chief Constable is proposing to close New Milton police station.

"The police can't cope. Our beat bobby is excellent but we don't see him often. There are 25,000 people in New Milton. We need protecting."

Mrs Cane added: "It's not too late to change minds. I'm incredibly worried what could happen if this vandalism is allowed to carry on unchecked. Before Christmas a cardboard store behind the shops was set on fire. It could have spread to the flats above. "This is a wonderful town but we are not getting good value - in terms of civic care and maintenance, or policing - for the massive council tax we pay."

Supt Talbot is keen to calm the fears of shopkeepers and residents alike.

"We are not closing New Milton police station. No stations will close as a result of the new resource allocation formula," he said.

"Lymington, the bigger premises, will be the sector's briefing and reporting centre but there will be a community beat team at New Milton and the CID will remain there too.

"The merged sector will lose a number of officers to Hythe and Totton but will still have significantly more - at 47 PCs - than any other sector in the Forest," he said.

"We have to work with finite resources, but there will be no reduction in service - just policing in a different way, which we will evaluate and tweak as we need to."