Boundary changes for voters – which could see the constituency of Telford split in half – have been rejected by council bosses.

The Boundary Commission of England wants to get rid of Telford and The Wrekin constituencies and divide the town between North and South, using the M54 as the dividing line. The two new constituencies would be ‘Telford North and The Wrekin’ and ‘Bridgnorth and South Telford’.

This has led to claims by Telford & Wrekin Council leader Kuldip Sahota that the town’s ‘identity will be damaged’.

Instead, the borough council last night voted to offer the commission a new proposal of a ‘Telford’ constituency and a ‘Wrekin and Bridgnorth’ constituency.

These would see a Telford constituency which would cover most of the urban parts of north and south Telford, including Ironbridge, with the exception of Wellington.

The Wrekin and Bridgnorth constituency would include Wellington, Newport, Albrighton, Shifnal, Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock and surrounding rural areas.

Councillor Sahota said: “The commission’s proposals ignore the geography of the area and just divide Telford on an arbitrary line – the M54. They would lump south Telford together with the market towns of Shifnal, Albrighton and Bridgnorth which in reality have very little in common.

“Our alternatives make much clearer sense to people locally, would keep the main urban area Telford as a single constituency, while bringing together a number of historic market towns and the surrounding rural area that share many similarities into another constituency.”

But Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Eade said the commission’s proposals were the best thing for the borough.”

The proposals can be viewed in the Civic Offices or at Newport and Donnington libraries.

Public consultations are in Ludlow Conference Centre from 11am to 8pm on Monday and 9am to 5pm on Tuesday. The final deadline for comments to the commission is December 5.