Two Cheshire councils may soon shrink in size, as they are struggling to attract enough candidates to stand in local elections.

Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) is undertaking a review of Frodsham Town Council and Helsby Parish Council which could see them both reduced in size.

Under the current proposals, Frodsham would see its number of councillors reduced from 16 to 12, with Helsby seeing its numbers dwindle from 15 to 12.

CWAC has been consulting on the issue after both councils wrote to it stating they were having trouble finding enough candidates to stand for election. As part of the review, CWAC launched consultations to gauge opinions.

Six people replying to the Helsby consultation – most of whom supported the idea of reducing the size of the parish council.

For Frodsham, a total of 13 respondents supported reducing the number of seats, eight opposed the reduction, and one was not sure.

A report to Cheshire West and Chester's Community Governance Review Committee – which is due to assess the feedback at a meeting on April 23 – said: "The written feedback showed concerns relating to this reduction because they felt that there could be an increase in their workload and their ability to represent all residents effectively."

It said the concerns raised by some existing parish councillors were different to the view of Frodsham Town Council itself, as it had 'requested the reduction in seats'.

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Following a review of the initial responses CWAC has now produced a list of draft recommendations.

These include reducing the number of parish councillors on both councils to 12. If approved at this week's meeting the recommendations will then be put out for further consultation.

If everything is eventually approved, the new arrangements could come into force in time for the May 2027 local elections.