POLICE bosses spent £750,000 on the doomed merger with Cumbria, it was revealed today.

The total is far high than first estimates made by Lancashire's Acting Chief Constable Steve Finnigan, who said the bill would run into "tens of thousands".

Lancashire has now asked the Home Office to reimburse around £500,000 of the costs.

Coun Malcolm Doherty, chairman of the Lancashire Police Authority, said: "We were bitterly disappointed when the Home Office failed to deliver on their assurances about the merger, particularly on precept harmonisation, and we feel the least they can do now is to refund us for the costs we incurred on the exercise."

Mr Finnigan, added: "We think this is a fair reflection of the impact that the merger process has had on our policing effort.

"Of course we expected it would have been an investment that paid off many times over once the two organisations came together, but that was not to be. Now we want to be recompensed for the work we put in to make the merger happen."

Lancashire and Cumbria were the only forces who agreed to merge as part of the nationwide scheme.

And as a result of getting further down that line, Lancashire's bill is the highest in the country so far. The costs are mainly from the hundreds of hours of senior officers' time spent on the project.

The £250,000 which Lancashire Constabulary has agreed to pay is for the running of the office which the merger team was based in.

The merger collapsed in July and was branded a farce and a waste of time by critics.

Treasury council tax capping rules banning a 13 per cent council tax rise needed in Lancashire to pay for the merger meant the project never had a chance of happening.