Dorset's nine councils are preparing to ask communities secretary Sajid Javid to be scrapped and replaced by two new unitaries.

A report published today said that ‘based upon the weight of public opinion and other analytical evidence' one unitary should cover Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, with a separate council for East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland.