CHRISTCHURCH MP Sir Christopher Chope says the council should take legal action if it is not granted more time to present its alternative to the super council plan.

On Tuesday night the borough voted to back keeping the existing two tier system in Dorset rather than joining with Bournemouth and Poole councils to form one new unitary authority as per the Future Dorset plan.

Sir Christopher, who opposes Future Dorset, said the borough had good grounds to challenge the "unreasonable" January 8 deadline for alternative submissions set by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.

“There are various grounds on which one could take legal action,” he said. “The most immediate is the question that arises of having sufficient time to put forward an alternative.

“The way the Government has done this so far is to say you only have eight weeks to put one forward.

“If the Secretary of State is not minded to grant an extension - that might easily be justiciable.”

Sir Christopher said the need for more time was clear as the county council “won’t even have been able to draw up disaggregation details until June 2018”, and the latest financial details about the Future Dorset plan had yet to be made public.

“I think it is unreasonable that Christchurch Borough Council should be expected to put a full case in by January 8,” he said.

Mr Javid is expected to make his final decision on Future Dorset within the next few weeks, after which it will be debated in Parliament.

Sir Christopher said the plan could be blocked in Parliament if the alternative is not accepted. “We are a long way away from that, but for any order to be implemented it has to be approved by Parliament,” he said.

“A series of different regulations will be debated and voted on. I would be seeking support from MPs to reject it.

“This issue doesn’t just affect Christchurch, it potentially affects a lot of other district councils which are threatened with being taken over against their will.”

In response to Tuesday’s decision Matt Prosser, chief executive of Dorset Councils Partnership, said: “I remain confident that our proposal to replace nine councils across Dorset with two new authorities will be approved by the Secretary of State.

“Sajid Javid MP has already said he is convinced by the evidence presented to him and is minded to approve the proposed Future Dorset reorganisation.”

“We have recently seen East Dorset District Council and Purbeck District Council respond positively to Sajid Javid’s announcement, and business organisations have, during the representations period, reiterated their support for the proposal.

“Being served by these two new organisations is the right thing for residents across Dorset - it reduces bureaucracy, improves democratic accountability, reduces costs and focuses a greater proportion of spending on frontline service delivery.”