Southend, Rochford and Castle Point council officials are to hold talks about merging the three areas under a single south Essex “city” council.

The three council chief executives are expected to meet in the next fewweeks to discuss a merger, with the aim of giving all three areas greater say over their affairs and more money to spend.

Southend Council leader Ron Woodley is keen to make the city plan become a reality as he believes all three areas would benefit.

Southend is already a unitary authority, so is in control of council services, such as social care and education.

Rochford and Castle Point still rely on Essex County Council to provide such services.

Mr Woodley, Independent councillor for Thorpe ward, in Southend, said: “I’d like to get a debate going on this. We need to make sure we don’t get dictated to.

“We want to be ahead of the curve, as in 50 years time we could be looking at this anyway, as a suburb of London.

“Essex County Council holds a lot of the money for the district councils in Essex and those councils have to go cap in hand, asking for money, which is very undemocratic.”

The idea of a merger has long been discussed, with Southend Council’s previous Tory group leader, Nigel Holdcroft, also keen on it.

Joining up the three areas would create a “powerhouse”, with a combined population of about 500,000.

Mr Woodley said the three areas already shared some services, such as the St Luke’s Walk-in health centre, in Pantile Avenue, Southend, Southend Hospital and the proposed airport business park.

He added: “We are on the cusp, as a town, of real economic growth, and we need to make sure we can get lift off and continue to move that forward.”