England’s smallest county is set to disappear off the map forever under the biggest government shake-up in 50 years.
Rutland County Council will be abolished and replaced by a larger local authority stretching around Leicester.
It comes as ministers redraw council boundaries as part of wider reforms affecting 15 million people across England.
Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘We need to devolve power out of Whitehall so that we can rebalance wealth, power and opportunity right across this country.’
The government has set out a target to have councils serving around 500,000 residents. And Rutland, which is home to around 41,000 people, falls way below this.
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Campaigners say they want to protect Rutland’s centuries-old identity, with Conservative MP Alicia Kearns saying residents ‘never chose to join’. More than 7,000 people have now signed a ‘Save Rutland’ petition.
Ms Kearns said: ‘Unless the Government acts, Rutland will lose its ceremonial county status.
‘The signs will come down and an identity that has endured for centuries will be erased at the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen.’
Some 134 districts are set to be abolished and replaced by new authorities providing all services in the area.
Rutland was its own county for years before it became part of Leicestershire in 1974. Following a public campaign, it became a unitary authority in 1995.
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