THE number of councillors on Stroud District Council could be reduced by almost half.

Leaders at the local authority have confirmed to the Gazette that they are "examining the options" over proposals to cut the number of councillors from 51 to 30 – a reduction of 41 per cent.

The move comes after the council asked members of the public as part of a recent telephone survey whether the number of district councillors should be reduced.

According to the council 76 per cent of those asked thought single-councillor wards were a good idea.

A spokesman for Stroud District Council said: "This issue has been raised and we thought we would gauge public reaction before we looked further.

"In the light of the public's response we will examine the options. Any consideration will involve public consultation and a timetable set by the Boundary Commission that takes about two years."

However, the proposal has not been welcomed by councillors on Stroud District Council who have raised concerns about workloads.

The district council is currently divided into 30 wards, 14 of which have two or more councillors including Berkeley, Cam East, Cam West, Dursley and Wotton.

At the moment Wotton-under-Edge, which also includes North Nibley, has three district councillors.

Cllr Paul Smith, ward member for Wotton, said: "I think it would be wrong to reduce them as it would make the wards much bigger and make it more difficult to represent the people in the wards.

"This would be a reduction in democracy."

Cllr John Stanton, one of two councillors representing Berkeley, said: "I am doubtful about it and have concerns about the loss of democratic accountabillity."

Labour councillors on Stroud District Council have also spoken out against any reduction.

The group, led by Cam West councillor Paul Denney, claim the reduction does not go far enough in transforming local government.

He said: "This move will save a few thousand but Labour has been campaigning for the last five years on moving to a unitary system in Gloucestershire, which would save £16 million a year - £500,000 in councillor allowances alone.

"If they are genuine about saving money, they should be working with those who want achieve far greater savings through unitary councils."