POLLS are to take place next Thursday (June 10) to decide the fate of a parish council that includes thousands of residents in Crewe.

As part of a Cheshire East Council shake-up of parish councils, Minshull Vernon and District Parish Council is set to be axed with its constituent wards swallowed up by neighbouring authorities.

Leighton and Woolstanwood parishes, which includes large areas of housing in the north and west of Crewe, will be taken into the area covered by Crewe Town Council while Minshull Vernon parish, itself, will become part of Church Minshull Parish Council.

Angry Minshull Vernon parish councillors say residents in Leighton and Woolstanwood will be hit by higher council tax bills imposed by Crewe Town Council.

They have forced a poll in each ward following parish meetings held in April.

Residents living in the Minshull Vernon ward are to be asked "Do you object to the abolition of Minshull Vernon and District Parish Council and the merger of Minshull Vernon Parish with Church Minshull Parish?"

Those in Leighton and Woolstanwood will be asked "Do You Want to Keep Your Leighton/Woolstanwood Parish?"

Cheshire East launched a review of town and parish council wards and borders in 2019 to adapt to changes in population and settlements, including several on the edge of Crewe.

These are also proposed boundary changes in Shavington, Rope and Wybunbury. Those prompted Shavington's borough councillor David Marren to propose a postal poll because he felt a12-week online public consultation would be "discriminatory" to some residents.

Minshull Vernon and Disrtrict councillors Brian Silvester is opposing the abolition of his council and claims the current Crewe Town council tax for band D is 380 per cent higher than the parish council tax levied from residents in Leighton and Woolstanwood.

He said: "Leighton and Woolstanwood are currently rural parishes but would become part of the urban Crewe Town Council if the borough council proposals go ahead.

"These are major, fundamental, historic changes and it is thanks to the parish council that residents of Leighton, Woolstanwood and Minshull Vernon are now getting a chance to express a view.

"If the proposals go ahead, it will be too late to do anything about it."

The polls take place on Thursday, June 10 between 4pm and 9pm.

There are no polling cards and votes can be cast for Minshull Vernon at Church Minshull Village Hall; for Leighton at Leighton Academy on Minshull New Road and Coppenhall Methodist Church Centre in Bradfield Road; and for Woolstanwood at The Georges Community Centre next to King George V Playing Fields on West Street.