CREATING a unitary authority for the whole of Oxfordshire would be far cheaper than allowing Oxford City Council to run its own affairs, county council leader Keith Mitchell has claimed.

Mr Mitchell has said he is becoming increasingly concerned at the city council's desire to set up a unitary authority.

County Hall has calculated it would cost £20.9m to set up a city unitary and an extra £9.5m a year to run.

Oxford is one of only a handful of local authorities across the country bidding to become a unitary, meaning it would take over the running of social services, highways, libraries and schools from County Hall.

However, Mr Mitchell has claimed such a reorganisation would never pay back the set-up costs. He said: "There is no case for any reorganisation to a unitary structure unless it is to a single unitary council for the whole of Oxfordshire, which could produce a payback within two years."

County Hall estimates that setting up a unitary authority for the whole of Oxfordshire would cost £26.8m and would be £14.5m a year cheaper to run.

It also estimates that the other possible option - creating three unitary authorities for the city, south and north of the county - would cost £53.8m to set up and then an extra £18.5m annually.

The city council has commissioned the Institute of Public Finance to undertake a detailed investigation about how much a city unitary authority would cost.