PRESSURE is being put on West Dorset District Council to share a roof with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council as part of a money-saving move.

A notice of motion for the plan will go before the borough council at a meeting on Thursday.

Councillors will decide if it should be discussed in more detail at a future management committee meeting.

The plan would see both authorities selling their existing sites and building a shared office block, possibly on the Granby Industrial Estate in Chickerell.

It is the brainchild of borough mayor David Harris - who is keen to keep momentum growing behind the proposal. He is calling upon West Dorset taxpayers to back his idea, despite council chiefs saying they are committed to staying in Dorchester.

He said: "We want to keep the momentum going and my colleagues have supported me on that.

"West Dorset may be less keen on working together on this aim, but I hope that the people of West Dorset will put some pressure on them to reconsider this."

Joint headquarters would allow both authorities to share facilities such as computers and reception areas, saving extra money for frontline services.

An eventual progression of this could be to form a single authority, Coun Harris added.

If the majority of Coun Harris's colleagues favour his plan, they will give the go-ahead for a £1,000 in-house investigation to explore the viability of a shared site.

Coun Harris added: "We would then formally approach West Dorset and discuss this.

"We want them to take us seriously with our approach. We know they want to take action to move from their present building, and the time is right for us, so we need to move quickly."

If both authorities are in favour, the move could happen within a year, Coun Harris added.

And he's hoping there will be a lot of takers for the borough council's offices.

He said: "The North Quay site is very attractive and looks down across the water, so it would be very suitable for hotel accommodation.

"There's all sorts of options available, but it will be up to people in the know to find out.

"This is something that I've thought about for a while now - having to make cuts to front line services makes me realise we can't go on like this, we need a way of moving forward."