East Dorset District Council rejects merger plans

Under the plans, the county's nine councils could merge into two

East Dorset District Council has become the first to vote against replacing Dorset's nine councils with two.

The idea would see the creation of two unitary authorities one serving the east, the other the west of the county.

The authority voted against the proposal by 17 votes to 12 at a full council meeting on Monday.

The three remaining Dorset councils still to vote on the plans - Bournemouth, Christchurch and Purbeck - will reach their decisions later today.

Dorset County Council, Borough of Poole, West Dorset District Council, North Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have all voted in favour of the mergers.

'Save £108m'

When all nine councils have reached a decision, a proposal is expected to be submitted to the secretary of state for communities and local government, Sajid Javid.

If the new structure is approved by parliament it would start from April 2019.

The merger plan comes after it was revealed the authorities had to make £200m of savings by 2019.

Cutting the number of councils in the area is expected to save about £108m over six years.

The change could see councillor roles cut from the current 331 to about 180, as well as the potential loss of about 450 council jobs.

Council executives said the results of an eight-week public consultation which ran from 30 August to 25 October showed the majority of residents supported moving to two councils.