POLICE in Wiltshire are preparing to undergo one of the biggest shake-ups in history to make them better able to deal with serious crime and counter terrorism.

The county's three policing divisions will change but police chiefs have stressed that no police stations will close as a result.

The new system is designed to separate everyday policing from serious crime investigations and make the force better prepared to cope with major incidents, including terrorist attacks.

The existing Salisbury A division and Chippenham C division (which covers west and some of north Wiltshire), will become one division, stretching from Malmesbury to Salisbury, with its headquarters at Melksham.

The Swindon division will remain unaltered to share the same boundary as the local authority.

The move comes after the Government decided to drop the proposed merger of some police forces. The force has received a share of £140,000 towards costs incurred through preparatory work for the merger.

The Government has decided instead each force must have the capability to deal with major incidents.

Former Salisbury divisional commander, Chief Supt Jeremy Wickham, has led the reorganisation, which will come into effect in April 2007.

Each of the specialist sections from existing divisions will be brought together under the overall control of the CID.

The most important part of the reshaping of the force as far as the public is concerned, said the chief superintendent, was the setting up of the new Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Ninety of these community- based teams are being set up across Wiltshire and Swindon.

Each NPT will be headed by a police constable, who must agree to serve a minimum two years as team leader, supported by police community support officers.

Chief Supt Wickham said: "The Government had set a target for 28,000 new PCSOs by April 2008 and Wiltshire was well on the way to reaching our target.

"By June next year each of our 90 neighbourhood policing teams will have been rolled out."

The NPTs will spend 95 per cent of their time on dedicated policing and will not be called away to take part in major incident investigation.

Nine response units based in towns across the county will back up the NPTs.

Chief Supt Wickham said: "We will carry on policing from every one of our 23 police stations in the old Salisbury and Chippenham divisions."