West Mercia Local Resilience Forum Area

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West Mercia is the title of the police force which was created in 1967 and comprises the three counties in the very heart of England.

It derives its title from the ancient Kingdom of Mercia which stretched from the Welsh Marches in the west to Anglia in the east. Today however, West Mercia still retains borders with Wales but now stretches to the boundary with the West Midland connurbation in the east. In the north it meets with the county of Cheshire and has Gloucestershire as it's southern neighbour. The force area has a land mass of 7,429 square kilometers (2,868 square miles) and is the fourth largest police force area in England and Wales.

The total population of the area is 1,158,478 (2.3% minority ethnic) with main centres of population in the Cathedral cities of Worcester and Hereford and county town of Shrewsbury. Other main population centres include Telford, Kidderminster and Redditch. Population density is at it's greatest in the east of the area particularly adjoining the West Midlands region and becomes sparse in the more rural areas meeting the Welsh border.

There are 478,398 dwellings within the three counties.

Three of our four local authorities (Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire ) report that they have a comparatively higher than national average population of 65+ year olds residing in their areas. Telford and Wrekin however have a lower than average number of 65+ year olds with a higher than national average population of 15 yrs or less.

The economy of the area includes service sector, technology, tourism and has a strong agricultural base. A manufacturing capability still thrives but this is in stark contrast to the industrial heritage that can be found in Telford, birthplace of the industrial revolution.

Each of our three counties has a developed road and rail infrastructure. The M5 motorway runs from north to south across the area while the M54 and M50 provide direct access from the West Midlands into Wales. In total 13,621 kilometers (8,464 miles)of roads serve the counties.

Three major rivers also course through the area. The rivers Severn and Wye run from their sources in Wales into Shropshire and Herefordshire to join the sea at Chepstow in Gloucestershire, while the Avon runs through the Worcestershire town of Evesham. There are no international airports within the West Mercia area but it does lie on the flight path that serves Birmingham International Airport which is located a few miles to the east of the area.