Two Buckinghamshire districts have written to the Government warning they could launch legal proceedings over plans to create a single county unitary.

Chiltern and Wycombe DCs have expressed their concerns in a letter to local government secretary James Brokenshire.

The letter complains about the lack of local consent and a ‘failure to ensure appropriate checks and balances’.  

In a joint statement, Chiltern leader, Cllr Isobel Darby, and Wycombe leader, Cllr Katrina Wood, said: ‘We are doing this with great reluctance but feel that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has left us with no alternative.

‘We have obviously thought long and hard about whether to take this step, but in this case we believe that it is in the best interests of our communities in Buckinghamshire to challenge the process being used.

‘Our aim is not to hinder the creation of the new council but to ensure we get an excellent, new council, giving us the opportunity to start afresh and form a council that serves our residents and businesses well, and one we can be proud of.’

All four Buckinghamshire districts decided not to agree to the regulations that will pave the way for a new unitary after they were laid before Parliament last week.