A FORMER Mayor of Worcester believes the city must expand beyond its current boundaries if it is to halt a "downward" decline.

Cliff Lord said there is not enough space for creating proper employment opportunities or to offer enough housing.

The 80-year-old former Warndon councillor believes that the city should withdraw from the county council and create a new unitary authority, with Worcester at the centre.

"The tightness of the boundaries doesn't give Worcester enough land to develop in the way it should and needs to," said Mr Lord, who was a city councillor from 1950 to 1955 and 1984 to 1996.

"It should develop at a greater rate, particularly in employment and housing. I'm noticing houses are being crammed into very limited sites and that is not good.

"In 1950 when I first joined, Worcester was a very powerful authority and had control of nearly all major services.

"Now that has dwindled away and it is a very skeleton set of responsibilities and the county council is more responsible. A single tier authority is more effective.

In the latest city civic society newsletter, Mr Lord wrote that improvements to the city's infrastructure, most notably in transport, had to be made and that opposition to expansion from nearby villages was 'unjustified'.

"We are rather like the small corner shop with a limited range of services and little hope of survival in the modern world," wrote Mr Lord, who now lives in Elizabeth Avenue, Claines.

City council leader Stephen Inman warned that expanding the boundaries would impact on neighbouring Wychavon and Malvern Hills councils.

He said the idea of a south Worcestershire council could be supported but he is confident the right plans are in place to enhance the city.

"Worcester is a pretty bright place to be, a lot of people would like to live here and come here," Coun Inman said.

What kind of future has Worcester got? Write to: letters@thisisworcester.co.uk or: Letters, Worcester News, Hylton Road, Worcester WR2 5JX.