A RADICAL boundary review has outlined significant changes to MPs' seats across Worcestershire under an historic redrawing of the county’s political map.

The controversial overhaul could potentially signal the end of Worcester's famous status as one of Britain's key battleground seats, which sparked a furious row today.

The big changes, proposed by an independent panel, includes:

- The Worcester constituency will be extended to include rural Tory areas of Drakes Broughton, Norton and Whittington

- West Worcestershire will be scrapped in favour of a new seat called 'Malvern and Ledbury', controversially lumping the whole of Malvern Hills with north Herefordshire

- Mid-Worcestershire will be replaced by a new seat called 'Evesham and south Warwickshire', taking in areas as diverse as Pershore and Stratford-upon-Avon

- Droitwich will be paired with Bromsgrove under another new seat currently held by MP and current Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid

The proposals are driven by a Government move to axe the number of MPs from 650 to 600 by 2020, but under the changes Worcestershire will still have six seats in the Commons.

But the suggestions for Worcester have prompted a furious reaction, with its parliamentary boundaries being redrawn for the first time since 1992.

For the last 24 years the city has been known as a key marginal because of its fairly even split of Conservative and Labour voters.

But the Boundary Commission says the seat is too small, and wants to add around 4,000 people to it by enlarging Worcester to the south, taking in three rural areas traditionally belonging to true blue Mid-Worcestershire.

It means current MP Robin Walker, re-elected last year with a 5,646 majority, has been handed a potentially more comfortable route to future Commons success.

Rival political parties are trying to throw a spanner into the works by making their opposition to it clear.

Labour Councillor Joy Squires, the deputy leader of Worcester City Council who stood for parliament last year, said today: "The Boundary Review is a blatant attempt to skew elections in favour of the Conservatives.

"It's wrong that over two million additional people who registered to vote in the EU referendum have not been included in the calculations.

"Locally, It makes no sense to extend the boundary beyond the natural administrative borders of Worcester city.

"The current electoral register shows there are already the optimum number of electors in Worcester, around 76,800, and the city is set to grow over the next few years."

Green Party Councillor Louis Stephen, who also stood in Worcester at last year's General Election, said: "Worcester will now be much less of a marginal - I expect local Conservatives will have massive smiles on their faces.

"The vast majority of general election voting takes place in safe seats.

"These boundary changes won't equalise votes - to make our voting process fair, we need proportional representation."

Mr Walker told the Worcester News he will "take whatever the Boundary Commission decides" but defended the changes.

"I'm am glad these proposals keep the Worcester seat together and mean that the whole city will continue to be represented by one MP," he said.

"Worcester is an historic seat in parliament and is politically iconic, so I would have resisted any attempt to change its status or to split the city.

"The addition of two rural wards will undoubtedly create some extra work, but I think it's manageable and I already have a good relationship with Wychavon district council as near neighbours."

He also insisted the changes are "pretty small", adding: "I can assure constituents that my usual surgeries and attendance at constituency events across Worcester will continue, and in any case my responsibilities to all my existing constituents remain the same."

BIG CHANGES ACROSS WORCESTERSHIRE - THE WINNERS AND LOSERS

THE reverberations over Worcestershire's parliamentary boundary changes have extended into Malvern - which is set for a controversial pairing with Herefordshire.

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin's seat is set to be overhauled, losing Pershore and gaining a staggering 17,000 voters from north Herefordshire including Bromyard and Ledbury, as well as the Worcestershire village of Ombersley.

But perhaps even more radically, the Mid-Worcestershire seat belonging to Nigel Huddleston will be ripped up and replaced by a new, snaking constituency but without the key town of Droitwich and 50 per cent of his current constituents.

Instead, he will keep Evesham and gain Pershore, but get handed all sorts of new areas like Inkberrow and parts of Stratford-upon-Avon, with the seat called 'Evesham and south Warwickshire'.

He will gain a raft of areas currently in West Worcestershire like Bredon, Elmley Castle and Eckington, but lose Hartlebury to the Wyre Forest.

Mr Huddleston has admitted his unease over the proposals, saying he wished the seat would remain the same.

"I support the principle of reducing the number of seats from 650 to 600 and inevitably this will involve some changes," he said.

"Obviously, I'm quite happy with the Mid-Worcestershire constituency as it is, and I would be delighted for it to continue in its current form. "I've only been an MP for a short period of time but have developed strong relationships and made good friends in every part of the constituency.

"But as I support the idea of fairer and more equal-sized constituencies across the country, I have to accept there are likely to be some changes locally."

Mrs Baldwin urged people to get involved in the consultation, keeping her views closely guarded.

"These are initial proposals and everyone should have their say," she said.

"I do think it's right that constituencies should be equal in size, and that we should cut the cost of politics by making MPs work even harder."

Areas like Droitwich Spa, Lovett, north Claines and Dodderhill will all come under a new seat called 'Bromsgrove and Droitwich', potentially giving Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid key parts of south Worcestershire.

Elsewhere, the Redditch seat will keep the same title but be extended, taking in eight areas of Bromsgrove including the key towns of Wythall and Alvechurch, in what could be seen as a blow to Tory MP Karen Lumley’s chance of retaining it.

The West Midlands as a whole will lose six seats, going from 59 to 53, with all the redrawn seats having around between 71,031 and 78,507 voters.

The Boundary Commission, which has today put it out for consultation until December 5, was tasked with getting each seat as close to 75,000 electors as possible.

Until now the seats go from 21,769 to 108,804, a startling disparity which led to a manifesto pledge by the Conservative Party to even them out.

Nationally a host of well-known politicians including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, its former leader Ed Miliband, former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and UKIP's only MP Douglas Carswell all face losing their seats.