What does the future hold for South Ribble?

South Ribble Borough Council - along with Lancashire's 14 other main local authorities - is set to be wiped from the map as part of wholesale changes ordered by ministers.

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The government has given the county until November to come up with plans to replace the existing 'two-tier' system - under which responsibility for local services is split between district authorities and the county council across most of Lancashire - with just a handful of standalone councils covering much larger areas.

Late last year, Coun Alty expressed a preference for South Ribble to merge with Chorley and West Lancashire as part of those changes. However, a council debate on the subject that was due to take place in March was deferred at the last minute.

Coun Tomlinson says he now hopes that the discussion will happen before the summer once councillors of all political colours in the borough have been provided with the information to enable them to have a "sensible and reasonable" conversation about the best option for the borough.