ANY plan to dissolve district councils in Northamptonshire and thereby change the way services are delivered by Cherwell Council would be ‘tragic and unjust’, according to its leader.

It follows a report that said Northamptonshire should be split into two unitary authorities after its county council ran into serious financial trouble, the like of which not seen in the UK for decades.

As part of proposed reform, all Northamptonshire’s district councils would be swallowed up – meaning Cherwell’s current arrangements with South Northamptonshire District Council would be forced to end.

Cherwell and South Northamptonshire started to share services in 2014 and share staff along with a senior management team and chief executive, Yvonne Rees.

Cherwell Council’s leader Barry Wood said: “Cherwell Council has an excellent joint working partnership arrangement with South Northamptonshire Council.

“It would be tragic and unjust if they were wrongly made to suffer in any way because of the issues raised about a totally different organisation.

“In fact, with their great track record, if I were interested in talking to a well- run organisation that is sensible, financially sound, and that puts the interests of its residents at the heart of everything it does, South Northamptonshire’s door is the first one I’d be knocking on to ask how things can be done in the future.”

Northamptonshire Council’s leader Heather Smith resigned last Thursday, following the report’s publication. That had been ordered by the communities and local government secretary Sajid Javid.

The county council wants to cut £34m over the next year and declared it was close to bankruptcy in February.