A LEGAL challenge has been threatened over the Dorset councils merger consultation.

Christchurch businessman Alistair Somerville Ford says he will apply for a judicial review into the process.

It comes after a fraught meeting of the council’s scrutiny committee on Tuesday, which further exposed the divide between some Christchurch members and those at Bournemouth and Poole.

During the meeting, it was revealed that a council working party had concluded the case for change ‘had not been made’.

In a statement, Mr Somerville Ford said: “The documentary evidence clearly shows that the consultation process was flawed and misled the public. There is also clear evidence of predetermination by those promoting the proposed change.

“Serious questions also exist in connection with the results of a research exercise undertaken by ORS, the company hired to evaluate the public response to the merger proposal.

“We are seeking a judgement from the court that the consultation process was unlawful.”

Mr Somerville Ford has previously taken similar action over the felling of trees in Druitt Gardens, which was unsuccessful.

And in 2013, the leader of Christchurch council, Ray Nottage was forced to apologise to him over a defamatory post on his blog.

Christchurch MP Chris Chope, an outspoken critic of the process said: “I did think that if the situation carried on like this, they would end up in the courts.

“And I have said from the outset that the consultation process is flawed because it did not present a clear option of no change.

“I would have thought there is a strong case.”

He added: “My view is that instead of spending council tax payers’ money on trying to fight it, they should say, ‘you’ve got a point, there hasn’t been a proper consultation in Christchurch. We are going to carry out our own on option 2b.’”

Jane Portman, acting chief executive of Bournemouth Borough Council said on behalf of Dorset’s nine councils: “No Dorset council has received a formal claim or pre-action letter setting out details of any judicial review.

“In the event that this is received, we would fully and robustly counter any action and are confident that we would be successful in doing so.

“We have every confidence that the consultation process was entirely robust and consistent with best practice principles.

“This included allowing adequate time for people to respond, making sufficient and accurate information available, adopting a robust and comprehensive methodology that provided statistically sound and reliable results. All nine councils worked together to ensure this and we remain steadfast in our defence of this process.

“No decisions have been made... and it is therefore equally clear that there is no predetermination.

“The scrutiny and decision-making process throughout January remains entirely unaltered.”