The leader of the county council has welcomed the news that district council plans to take legal action against the government over the set up of the new unitary council have been rejected by the courts.

Bucks County Council leader, Martin Tett, said a judicial review “could have been a huge cost to our taxpayers” and he is now “looking forward” to working with the districts to implement the new ‘super council’.

Last week it was announced that Wycombe, South Bucks and Chiltern district councils’ request for a judicial review of unitary council plans had been declined by a judge.

Cllr Tett said: “We’re pleased that the courts have decided not to proceed any further with the legal challenge from Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe district councils in relation to how the new council for Buckinghamshire will be created – this could have been at a huge cost to our taxpayers.

“We are all agreed that a brand new council for Buckinghamshire, building on the best of the current councils, is a good thing for our residents, communities and the future of our county.

“I’m looking forward to getting together with the leaders and shadow executive nominees from across all the councils to focus on how we bring the five into one to make the best council for Buckinghamshire.

“With just over 12 months to go until the new council is due to open, there is a huge amount of work for us to do together.”

In January, the districts leaders announced they would be taking legal action against the government amid concerns over the set up of the new council.

At the time the leaders criticised the government’s draft orders – legislation outlining the processes required to move to a unitary authority.

They slammed the “undemocratic” decision to appoint Cllr Tett as the leader of the shadow executive – which is tasked with setting up the new authority.