Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland says any ‘devolution deal’ will not amount to a merger of councils.

He says the idea has been forced on unwilling partners by the Government, although almost completely lacking in any detail.

Dorset has signed an ‘expression of interest’, with Wiltshire and Somerset, to work on which areas they might be able to collaborate.

“We thought it was better to be around the table than sat outside it… it is not a merger of councils,” said the council leader.

He said he, and the other councils who have signed the Heart of Wessex accord, were still waiting for further details from the Government, adding that were all completely opposed to the idea of regional mayors.

“The last thing we want is another large bureaucracy above us, but the Government steer is just that, although I can’t see anything happening anytime soon,” said Cllr Ireland at the October full council meeting.

In response to a question from Littlemoor and Preston councillor Louie O’Leary the leader said any final decision would come back to the full council before being signed off.

During his report Cllr Ireland said he would soon be embarking on a tour of all of the county’s 16 town councils to talk about the authority’s plans for the future – although he resisted calls to extend that to parish councils as well, saying that with more than 150 of them he simply did not have the time.

In response to a question from Beacon ward Cllr Jane Somper he said his one exception might be Melbury Abbas parish council where the controversial Dinah’s Hollow road scheme is being proposed after a series of landslips.