Residents to pay the price as County Council looks set to press on with legal action

6.41.03pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 7th Sep 2007

Bedfordshire County Council looks set to launch a hugely expensive legal action against the Government's decision to rejects its bid for unitary status

Tory-run Bedfordshire County Council looks set to press ahead with a costly legal challenge to the Government's decision on Unitary Status in the county, in spite of a Liberal Democrat attempt to prevent a further £75,000 of local taxpayers' money being wasted.

After the Conservatives voted down a Liberal Democrat motion calling on the Council to reject plans to launch a judicial review, Bedfordshire County Council Liberal Democrat Group Leader Peter Blaine said:

"It's quite clear there was a very strong Conservative whip which prevented people from voting with their consciences, and the residents of Bedfordshire will pay for that, both financially and in terms of the local government solution that is found, which is unlikely to be as good as it could have been."