A council leader has proposed siphoning off parts of the Ribble Valley for his borough to create a new 'Greater Preston' council area.

Preston City Council leader Councillor Matthew Brown is planning a raid on the Ribble Valley, South Ribble and Wyre to expand the footprint of his borough in a pitch to government about redrawing Lancashire's borough maps.

Under his plans, part of Longridge, plus Mellor and Balderstone, would be absorbed into a 'Greater Preston', something Cllr Brown claims would create "an economic area that makes sense".

The changes he proposes also aim to draw in Samlesbury - and its huge BAE Systems and Budweiser sites and the future National Cyber Force HQ - Bamber Bridge, Longton and Penwortham from South Ribble, plus Garstang from Wyre.

The proposed change would see Preston’s population of 156,000 increase by around 89,000.

It comes after it was revealed the leaders of South Ribble and Chorley councils had proposed their authorities merge with each other and West Lancashire Borough Council.

That plan – which was submitted to the government late last week – notably did not include Preston, in spite of the city being part of the patch traditionally identified as 'Central Lancashire', along with South Ribble and Chorley.

The slew of suggestions for changes to council boundaries was sparked by a call made by the majority of Lancashire’s Labour MPs last month for a radical overhaul that would see the number of local authorities in the county slashed from 15 to just three or four – and the creation of an elected Lancashire mayor.

The new councils would necessarily cover much larger areas and would be standalone – or ‘unitary’ – authorities, responsible for delivering all services in their patch, unlike under the two-tier split between the county and district councils which currently exists across most of Lancashire.

However, Cllr Brown’s plan – contained in a letter sent to local government minister Jim McMahon – opens up the prospect not just of merging councils on the basis of their existing footprints, but creating entirely new local authority geographies.

Cllr Brown said: “Preston is the administrative headquarters of the county and 'Greater Preston' would bring [together] an economic area that makes sense – in terms of administration, health, planning and housebuilding.

“So we’re really keen on trying to persuade the government to give us a larger Preston unitary [authority]. It takes us to a population of around 250,000 – and we feel that’s getting to a potential level…the government might accept.".

Labour MPs said in their proposal to the government that any newly-created councils should contain between 300,000 and 550,000 residents, above the number Cllr Brown's plan would hit.

The government’s own thoughts on the subject of the size of standalone authorities are likely to emerge in a delayed white paper on devolution, which has now been promised by the end of the year.

In his letter to Jim McMahon, Cllr Brown acknowledges the government may prefer any reorganisation to be based on “existing local government boundaries”, in which case he says Preston would be “open to a discussion” about merging with Lancaster and Ribble Valley - despite the latter traditionally being 'East Lancs' and Lancaster in the county's north.

Cllr Brown there were “synergies” between Preston and Lancaster – Lancashire’s only two cities – which he noted both have universities and are “very similar in terms of culture”.

His letter also states Preston would “potentially” still consider a four-way tie-up with South Ribble, Chorley and West Lancashire if it was ultimately on the table – but the Greater Preston concept was now the “preferred option”.

It also claims Preston as a “successful” and “pioneering” city which is “the economic, administrative, employment and academic heart of Lancashire”.

The document says the city is a “net importer of jobs” and “the most significant commuter destination” in the county, according to the Lancashire Independent Economic Review.

He added he feels Preston is "unique in term of emphasis on public ownership, tackling inequalities, living wage jobs and growing the social economy" and if the city became part of a large (500,000 people-plus) borough this may be lost.