A political row has broken out over plans to move Gloucester City Council to Shire Hall, the county council HQ.

The Liberal Democrats claim the decision has been poorly thought out and want new city council offices to be built in Gloucester's Kings Quarter instead.

But the Tory leader of the city council Cllr Paul James has hit back saying the existing HQ at the Docks is far too big and the move will save the authority more than £100,000 a year.

The Liberal Democrats have called for the suspension of plans to move the city council to the fifth floor of Shire Hall from April 1, 2019. They claim the business planning behind the project is ill thought out and the office accommodation will be temporary, too small and the financial savings unsound.

City council Lib Dem group leader, Cllr. Jeremy Hilton said: ""Gloucester City Council under Conservative control really is becoming a 'vanishing council'.

"Moving to Shire Hall is a desperate stop gap position. It attempts to save money but doesn't. The move should be suspended to allow for a full reappraisal.

"The accommodation at Shire Hall and 92-96 Westgate Street amounts to just 1,175 sqm. This is 78 per cent smaller in size compared to the 5,290 sqm at Herbert, Kimberley and Phillpotts warehouses at the Docks. The Tory cabinet has still not provided opposition councillors with the plans on how it will all be squeezed into such a small space. The public reception advice centre on Westgate Street will be tiny."

Cllr Hilton said the council had yet to secure an agreement with the Canals & River Trust about altering the covenant on Herbert, Kimberley and Phillpotts warehouses. Until this was sorted, the buildings could not be put up for sale.

He said: "The city council needs to acquire new accommodation for the long term. It requires space to grow, especially if the council ends the Amey streetcare contract and brings the service back in house. We should build new offices in the Kings Quarter next to the new bus station. This would help kickstart the regeneration of the immediate area."

But Gloucester City Council leader Cllr Paul James said: The city council's current offices at the Docks are far bigger than we need and therefore are costing us more than they should. They could be put to better use, perhaps as a hotel, to support the ongoing regeneration of the Docks and Quays.

"The move to Shire Hall will save us £100k a year plus whatever we get from the new use for the Docks warehouses. There is a savings requirement in our budget for 2019/20 of £200k relating to office accommodation.

"If the Liberal Democrats are proposing not to deliver this they need to say what they will cut to fill the hole it would leave in the council's finances."