Sussex Police has billed the Government for £1 million over preparations it had made for the now abandoned plan to merge with Surrey.

Sussex Police Authority issued the Home Office with the invoice in response to Home Secretary Dr John Reid's confirmation that he does not intend to proceed with the enforced mergers.

The invoice is in relation to "the considerable expenditure over the past 12 months in responding to the proposals of the former Home Secretary".

The accompanying letter states: "The payment of this sum will ensure that front line policing in Sussex does not suffer as the result of the misconceived attempt by the former Home Secretary to enforce a particular way forward against the wishes of the authority, Sussex Police and the communities we have the honour to serve."

The invoice was sent on Monday and echoes the sentiments of the North Wales Police Authority, which is demanding the Government repays the £375,000 it spent.

The project was the brainchild of former Home Secretary Charles Clarke but collapsed earlier this month after the only two forces volunteering to merge withdrew, blaming the Government for failing to offer cash to finance the changeover.

Mr Clarke aimed to consolidate the 43 forces of England and Wales into 24 larger forces, arguing they would be better prepared to fight terrorism and organised crime.

But it proved unpopular and Cumbria and Lancashire constabularies were the only two that agreed to merge together. However, both authorities withdrew their support after the Government failed to resolve the issue of funding.

Dr John Godfrey, clerk to Sussex Police Authority, said: "We are delighted this has turned out in the way that it has.

"We have been vigorously opposing the idea for a year now and we are pleased the Government has recognised the strength of the argument and not proceeded with the plan.

"During the past year we have done a great deal. We have had to go into considerable detail about exactly what would be involved with merging with Surrey. We have had to look at the costs which would be involved in merging IT systems, having one headquarters instead of two and adjusting the styles of policing between the two forces.

"We have taken legal advice and none of this comes cheaply.

A lot of the creative energy of the organisations, including members of the authority and senior officers, has been devoted to this topic instead of our day job of policing Sussex.

"The £1 million reflects the fact we have been diverted to concentrate on issues like this."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We cannot comment on requests from individual forces but the Home Office would consider any requests for funding from police forces.