The leader of Hertfordshire County Council has accused the Government of putting party politics ahead of residents after ministers confirmed plans to reorganise local government into four new unitary councils.

Steve Jarvis, the Liberal Democrat leader of Hertfordshire County Council, criticised the decision, claiming the four-council model would be the "most expensive and most disruptive" option for the county.

The Government recently confirmed that Hertfordshire will be divided into four unitary authorities as part of its programme of local government reorganisation, replacing the current two-tier system of county and district councils.

Responding to the announcement, Cllr Jarvis said the reforms had moved away from their original aim of devolving powers from Westminster to local communities.

"When the government began this process it said it was focused on devolution - transferring money and power from Westminster and Whitehall to communities across Hertfordshire and the rest of England - but now they are concentrating on a reorganisation that nobody asked for and which will take many years to deliver any benefit for Hertfordshire's people," he said.

He warned that splitting county-wide services into four separate authorities would make them more difficult and costly to run.

"Splitting the teams that deliver care for the elderly and disabled, the teams who support children with SEND and the teams who fix our roads into four will make it harder and more expensive to deliver these services," he said.

Cllr Jarvis also claimed the changes would not improve frontline services.

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"This will do nothing to create more special school places or fix more potholes but it will cost the council taxpayers of Hertfordshire more. Projections show that the new Central Herts Council will be bankrupt from the day it is created."

The Liberal Democrat leader further accused the Government of designing the new council boundaries for political advantage.

"The government has chosen the arrangements that are best for the Labour Party, not those that are best for the communities in Hertfordshire," he said.

"In parts of the county they are dividing districts, splitting communities with gerrymandered boundaries chosen by Labour in a desperate attempt to win the new Central Herts unitary.

"It is shocking that the government is planning to manipulate local government in Hertfordshire in this way."

The Government has previously said the reorganisation is intended to simplify local government, improve public services and support wider devolution across England.