CONTROVERSIAL plans to cut the number of county councillors serving Wyre Forest have been given the thumbs up by boundary chiefs.

The plan to give Wyre Forest 10 councillors instead of 11 was welcomed by The Boundary Committee for England despite fears it would confuse voters.

The re-think of boundary lines - which has gone to another public consultation - is to match more closely county and district council boundaries and was drawn up by a working party at Worcestershire County Council.

The proposals, however, came in for strong criticism from the chief executive of Wyre Forest District Council, Walter Delin, and Health Concern leader, Howard Martin.

Although they agreed with the loss of a seat on the county council, they told the committee the plans "did not take sufficient account of the district council wards and would cause confusion for the electorate".

Mr Martin told the Shuttle/Times & News: "One proposal covers part of five district council wards - the committee is just trying to make the numbers balance. They will, overall, be served by something like 15 different kinds of councillors. It is just ludicrous."

The working party plan was not fully accepted by The Boundary Committee.

Instead of the working party's bid to create two new wards in Stourport, there should instead be one ward, served by two councillors, the committee concluded.

Working party member, Stephen Clee - county councillor for Chaddesley - said this would be a "unique" move as wards in Worcestershire had, until now, only been served by one councillor.

He added: "I am delighted that the proposals mirror the recommendations we drew up. They include the restoration of old county names of St Barnabas and St Mary's in Kidderminster.

"Three other seats have been created - Sutton Park, Hurcott and Stourport-on-Severn."

The level of "coterminosity" - how closely the county and district council boundaries matched - would be 33 per cent if the scheme was put through.

The full report - which covers all of Worcestershire - is at www.boundarycommittee.org.uk. Representations on the review should be made, by April 26, to: Team Leader (Worcestershire), The Boundary Committee for England, Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London, SW1P 2HW.