A High Court judge has today agreed to set aside time to hear the case against the Government s handling of the decision to create unitary authorities in Exeter and Norwich.

A High Court judge has today agreed to set aside time to hear the case against the Government's handling of the decision to create unitary authorities in Exeter and Norwich.

Two days have been set aside for the rolled up hearing which will be heard on 26 and 27 April.

This means that a ruling on whether there is a case for judicial review can be followed immediately by a hearing of the substantive issues to allow a quicker decision to be made.

Welcoming the decision, Leader of Devon County Council John Hart said:

"Our application for a rolled-up hearing has been agreed. We very much welcome this.

"Ideally we would have liked this hearing earlier because the quicker we end this uncertainty the better. However, this is still a lot faster than normal processes. Usually in the administrative court you would expect to wait two to three months for a leave hearing and then another six months plus for the substantive hearing.

"We have an extremely strong case. The Government has been advised that our case has a high likelihood of success - so we want and need to get on with it and put this whole sorry saga to rest with as little impact on our residents and resources as possible.

"The draft orders have yet to be approved by Parliament which will now be mindful of the impending legal proceedings.