D-Day: here’s when councils are meeting to decide the future of local government in Dorset

Cllr John Beesley, Bournemouth council leader, Cllr Janet Walton, Poole council leader, Cllr Ian Monks, former leader of East Dorset District Council and Cllr Ray Nottage, leader of Christchurch council, launch the ‘super council’ talks Each of the nine existing authorities will discuss the ‘super council’ proposals – either no change, or one of three variations of a two unitary model – intended to mitigate against a predicted future crisis in local government finances. Already the majority of Dorset’s MPs have backed combining Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, although Christchurch MP Christopher Chope and several of the town’s councillors have indicated a preference for ‘no change’.

Breaking Live: Newport-Cardiff trains disrupted as engineering works overrun

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “Due to overrunning engineering works in the Cardiff area, there will be disruption to services on the South Wales Mainline and Valley line services at the start of service this morning. Up until just after 8am this morning, trains travelling to/from the east and north continued to start and terminate at Newport, as well as running between Swansea and Bridgend.