Heavy shots continue to be fired as Gloucestershire's Devolution proposals are submitted to the Government.

Tory county councillors have blasted Lib Dems in Cheltenham for "dumping" a "bombshell" proposal into the mix at the last minute.

Members of Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) cabinet also blasted the idea as manipulative and "abhorrent" at a meeting last night.

Cllr Rowena Hay, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council,  revealed her team had been carrying out work to support the creation of two authorities  on Monday (March 17).

She said she had made "no secret" of the fact it was drawing up its own proposition for reforms.

The Government unveiled plans in December to shake-up councils across England and said it would give more powers to local authorities.

Cllr Hay said the idea of splitting Gloucestershire into east and west, also backed by the Cotswolds leader and five of the county's MPs, would make taxpayers' money "go further" while allowing each area to focus on "developing their own strengths".

Cllr Stephen Davies, leader of GCC, said it would make meetings with his district counterparts under new group Leadership Gloucestershire "incredibly challenging". It was created to try and find common ground amongst council leaders on Devolution. 

Cllr Davies said Cheltenham had scoped and commissioned work into its proposal and made them public without informing him or several other councils.

"Dumping it in the process at the very last minute so it lacks any scrutiny at all, has probably meant that the atmosphere in those meetings, always a little challenging, has now become incredibly challenging," he added.

He also shot down the proposals announced by Cllr Jeremy Hilton, leader of Gloucester City Council, to create a Greater Gloucester city council and one or two unitaries for the rest of the county area.

Cllr Davies said: "I question whether it has any legs at all."

He and his cabinet continue to push for a single unitary authority to be created and commissioned a report which concluded it "best met" criteria set out by the Government and would deliver the "most significant financial benefit".

The seven councils in the county had until today (March 21) to submit their interim devolution plan to the Secretary of State. Last night the cabinet meeting endorsed a letter drafted by all the leaders which said it will be exploring all three options.

However, Cllr Davies said he wanted to be clear ahead of the May elections that GCC believed one Gloucestershire authority was the best option. He predicted that after the vote only two proposals would remain on the table and be taken forward for more detailed analysis.

Cllr Lynden Stowe (Con, Campden-Vale) said: "The single unitary is clearly designed around what is best for the people, economy and future of Gloucestershire.

"The other two proposals are basically focused entirely on what is best for a handful of Liberal, Democrat politicians. There is no rationale for those arguments."

Cllr Davies said he had attended a Devolution public meeting in Stroud last week with 130 residents and he was yet to meet a member of the public who supported splitting Gloucestershire in two.

However, in a political gaffe he also accused those same residents of having "dull lives" for showing up to have their say.

Cllr David Gray (Con ,Winchcombe and Woodmancote) said: "This east west split, to me, smacks of gerrymandering.

"They're deliberately drawing boundaries. They're even reserving the right to change the boundaries in Tewkesbury to try and achieve their political ends.

"It should all be driven by what's best for our residents and it doesn't take that long to come to the conclusion that the unitary is best for our residents."

Cllr Paul McLain (Con ,Highnam) said splitting Gloucestershire in two and having two directly elected mayors would be the "death knell" of the county.

While Cllr Cllr Carole Allaway-Martin (Con ,Coleford) said: "The idea of an east west split is abhorrent. One, it destroys historical Gloucestershire and two, it actually creates them and us, and people I've spoken to are very unhappy about that and very much in favor of one unitary."

The cabinet voted to approve the letter by all seven councils which will be sent to Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution.

It states: "At present, there is not unanimity among the seven principal councils. More work is being done to identify which structure(s) will feature in the proposal submitted by 28 November, with a view to reaching agreement upon it. Although all councils recognise that ultimately there might be competing proposals."

Cllr Hay said in a statement today: "I as leader have been very clear with all councils that Cheltenham would be submitting a proposal. I have made no secret of that from the get go. I know that our officers also notified all councils as part of the joint workstreams that CBC would be working up a two unitary proposal so this is hardly a secret.

"The County Council concentrates entirely on the figures, our proposal grabs with both hands the opportunities for investment growth and improvement in services for residents and businesses."

She stressed that CBC would continue to work together with all councils in the best interests of Gloucestershire and there would be much more consultation and discussions with businesses, residents and parishes before a full business case for Devolution was submitted in November.