A SENIOR Worcester politician says a new 'unitary' council should be created for south Worcestershire - despite admitting it means "political suicide" for his party.

Veteran Labour Councillor Paul Denham, the current city mayor, says it's time to consider scrapping district authorities in Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon to have one big council covering all three areas.

The radical idea of a South Worcestershire Council has never been properly considered but could potentially save millions of taxpayers' money.

Last month we revealed how Councillor Simon Geraghty, who took over as the new leader at County Hall in February, ruled out any prospect of scrapping all six district councils across Worcestershire to seek 'unitary status' under one giant authority.

But Councillor Denham says one alternative is to create a unitary council for the southern half of Worcestershire.

It would mean Redditch, Bromsgrove and Kidderminster having to find their own solution, with Councillor Denham saying those districts tend to have more in common with Birmingham or the Black Country anyway.

"This is very much my own view and not that of the Labour group, but from a 'good governance' point of view it'd make absolute sense," said Councillor Denham, who sits on the city and county councils.

"It'd be political suicide for my party, but it's inevitable that some changes to the councils will happen one day.

"Worcestershire as a whole is too big for a unitary council, and when you look at the Wyre Forest they tend to look towards the Black Country while people in Redditch and Bromsgrove tend to look towards Birmingham.

"Having a south Worcestershire unitary is, to my mind, a sensible way forward, the average size of a unitary council is around 250,000 people which is roughly half of Worcestershire - so it makes sense.

"Local people generally have no idea who to contact about particular issues, they don't know if it's a city council issue or a county one."

Last month we revealed how his own Labour group leader, Councillor Peter McDonald, said he'd be resistant to any change unless there was a public referendum first.

The last time the issue was ever debated at County Hall was back in 2006, when councillors voted to abandon an investigation into the possible savings of amalgamating all seven Worcestershire councils into one.

But supporters of the move say it could save up to £30 million a year by merging services together under the one body.

Some other areas of the country have made hefty savings from it such as Shropshire, which believes it has clawed back £20 million a year and Durham, which claims its yearly recurring saving to be £21 million.

But millions are required in upfront costs first, with such a massive structural change likely to take more than two years to complete - if it went smoothly.

The county council is looking to save around £25 million a year at the moment, largely due to demographic pressures and reduced Government funding, with Councillor Geraghty saying any changes now would be an unwelcome "distraction".

* Councillor Denham's views were not expressed under his role as city mayor.