BLACKPOOL councillors are set to go head to head with counterparts in Wyre and Fylde over a new look for local government in the area.

Voters across Lancashire -- but not in the unitary authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen -- will be given the choice between two different types of council for the future at a referendum later this year.

Under Option A services could be provided by a Lancashire 'super-council,' serving more than one million residents from St Annes to Burnley, with Thornton Cleveleys and Fleetwood join the existing Blackpool Council.

Option B would see Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre merge to form a 'City of the Fylde' super-council stretching as far as Garstang and Kirkham.

Either council would provide the full range of local government services - from education and social services to street cleaning and housing.

Wyre and Fylde had hoped to merge with each other, but both prefer Option B, which would see them remain intact as part of a larger council.

Wyre council leader, Cllr Alan Vincent, said: "We at Wyre are disappointed that one of the options means that existing Wyre will be broken up.

"But we are pleased that the Committee appears to have taken some of our views onboard with regard to the other option which would mean that the present area covered by Wyre borough would remain intact and become part of what, I believe, would become known as the City of the Fylde, also including the Borough of Fylde.

"We are not happy with Option A but we are happier with Option B."

Cllr John Coombes, leader of Fylde Borough Council, said: "We are pleased to hear that the Boundary Committee seems to have listened to our arguments and has recognised the need for a reasonably sized unitary authority that would be big enough to be efficient, yet small enough to remain local.

"We are also delighted that the final recommendations would keep Fylde and Wyre together as an entity under any incoming regional assembly. We are heartened that the Boundary Committee envisages the proposed changes as 'the creation of an entirely new and different authority'."

But Blackpool Council favours Option A, and fears that a larger council could take the focus off its regeneration Masterplan.

Council leader, Cllr Roy Fisher, said: "The absurdity is that the furthest part of rural Wyre is miles nearer to the Yorkshire boundary than it is to Blackpool Tower. This makes no sense at all.

"With the increasing momentum that Blackpool's ambitious Masterplan is gaining, we are concerned about the potential to lose this focus should a boundary of such a scale be implemented.

"Option B wasn't the preferred option of any Lancashire council, nor has it been an option on which the residents have been consulted. The MORI research so far suggested that this will not prove a popular option amongst the public."

There are also splits along political lines. Blackpool's Tories and Liberal Democrats favour the 'City of the Fylde' while Wyre's Labour group will press for Option A.

The changes will only go ahead if the region votes yes to a north-west regional assembly in autumn's referendum.