THE decision to run Exeter as a unitary authority will create difficulties and "unnecessary bureaucracy" for the rest of the county, warns the leader of Mid Devon District Council.

Local government minister Rosie Winterton ended weeks of speculation when she said last Wednesday that the city's application for home rule was successful.

But Cllr Peter Hare-Scott, Conservative member for the Newbrooke Ward, Crediton, welcomed news that district authorities would remain in the latest shake-up.

The leader said: "We, along with most other districts, have been consistent in our approach and emphasised a strong case for keeping the districts and this announcement reflects the wishes of residents in rural areas.

"A unitary Exeter will necessitate a whole new unnecessary bureaucracy and create difficulties for Devon County Council. The colossal transaction costs will not be recouped — only three-and- half years ago a financial appraisal clearly showed a unitary Exeter was not viable and was rejected.

"Given the current economic climate and the need to avoid unnecessary public expenditure, what possible justification can there be for this U-turn?" he added.

Cllr Hare-Scott has long-supported retaining the two-tier structure and believed plans to consolidate Mid Devon, East Devon, North Devon, West Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge and Torridge district councils into a single authority would result in the county becoming the least democratic in the entire country.

But district councillor David Nation, Liberal Democrat for the Lawrence Ward, Crediton, who hoped district authorities would be scrapped, said he was "extremely disappointed".

He said: "Those who favour a two-tier system say we can work more effectively and in partnership with our neighbours.

"I have been on Mid Devon District Council for 15 years and, quite frankly, we have made very little progress with that. Part of the problem with districts is they all want to protect their own empires."

Conservative Angela Browning, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said: "Apart from the 'broad cross section of support', which this decision does not have, the most worrying is that Exeter does not meet the financial viability test.

"At a time when budgets are under such pressure, the transition costs cannot but add to administration costs rather than front-end services."

Dr Jonathan Underwood, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Tiverton and Honiton, said it was "absolutely typical" of the Government to make a "financially ruinous" decision for short-term political gain.

He said: "The Government has ignored its own clear expert advice that this would be bad for Devon and disastrous for the rest of Devon. This will inevitably translate into lost services and higher council tax."