Warwickshire's crime commissioner is calling for rural communities to remain at the heart of national discussions about police reform.

Philip Seccombe said rural areas must be "properly represented, resourced and heard".

His words come during National Rural Crime Action Week which this year has the theme, "Police Reform Must Include Rural Communities".

Police and Crime Commissioner Seccombe said: "As policing evolves, it is essential that rural communities remain properly represented, resourced and heard.

"One of the risks with any large-scale reorganisation is that attention can become increasingly focused on the pressures facing major urban centres. For counties such as Warwickshire, that must not come at the expense of the communities, businesses and farms that make up such an important part of our economy and way of life.

"Recent developments around local government reorganisation have also highlighted the need for greater clarity about how the Government's wider reform agenda, including policing reform, will work in practice. Before major decisions are taken, communities deserve confidence that local accountability will be maintained and that rural areas will continue to have a strong voice in policing.

"The test of any reform must be whether it improves outcomes for the public. Whatever structures emerge nationally, rural communities must continue to receive the attention, resources and specialist policing capability they need and deserve."

The commissioner's office said the recently adopted Warwickshire Rural, Wildlife and Heritage Crime Partnership Strategy "highlights the importance of strengthening neighbourhood policing in rural areas", improving engagement with communities and "ensuring rural concerns continue to be heard and acted upon".

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The strategy also recognises that offences such as machinery theft, livestock crime, wildlife crime and heritage crime can have a "particularly significant impact in rural settings".

The Commissioner believes that reform should strengthen, rather than dilute, the ability of policing to respond to the needs of rural communities.