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James Gray attacked the decision

The Government, came under fierce Tory fire, as it moved tonight to axe the five councils in Wiltshire and replace them with an all-purpose authority.

Under an order set to be backed by the Commons, the districts of Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury and West Wiltshire will be swept away along with the top tier county council.

Local Government Minister John Healey said the new countywide authority could prove to be a "flagship" for the rest of the country to follow.

All the local government services will come under the umbrella of a countywide unitary authority covering a population of more than 400,000.

Mr Healey said: "Our approach provides for a transition which is effective, one that is as efficient as possible, one that avoids as far as possible disruption to services, one that we believe gives a good deal to citizens and to service users."

He said order was "fair, one that is credible to council staff and above all one that will open the door to creating what in Wiltshire could be one of the flagship local authorities for our country in the future".

But Tory James Gray (Wiltshire N) said the move had not been called for by Wiltshire residents.

He asked Mr Healey: "How do you explain the fact that the Mori poll shows something like 71 per cent opposed and all four district councils were clearly opposed by polling?"

Mr Healey replied that that there was widespread support from business and the business community for the plans.

The first elections are expected to be held in May next year.

The Government also plans to bring in unitary councils at Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland and Shropshire. Two such authorities are planned in Cheshire.

Tory former minister Robert Key (Salisbury) gave the plans short shrift.

Only 53 per cent of county councillors had voted in favour of a unitary authority, while none of the district councils did and most district councillors voted strongly against it, he said.

Mr Key added: "I oppose this order in principle. I think it's wrong for Wiltshire.

"But I take the view that the Government is going to get its way and it's my duty therefore to make it work for the advantage of my constituents.

"I will do my best to minimise the pain and realise any gain."

Tory Michael Ancram (Devizes), also a former minister, taunted Mr Healey: "If you lose your seat at the next election, you'll have a fine career as a stand-up comic because never have I seen anyone deliver such rubbish with such a straight face."

He said the Government's decision was "perverse" given an Ipsos Mori poll which showed 78 per cent of people "effectively wanted the status quo with a bit more cooperation".

Meanwhile, 71 per cent felt a single council for Wiltshire would be remote, 64 per cent saw Wiltshire as too big to be served by just one authority and two thirds of respondents said the current system of local government worked well for them, Mr Ancram told the House.

He added: "I never received one single letter in favour of the unitary proposal. I received dozens of letters against it.

"So where this impression that somehow there was popular support for this comes from I don't know."

Tory Andrew Murrison (Westbury) said there were "no support worthy of the name in Wiltshire" for the plans, which he described as a "self-licking lollipop".

8:02am Wednesday 6th February 2008

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