COMMUNITIES in the Rede Valley and much of the North Tyne are likely to be removed from the Hexham parliamentary constituency at the next General Election.

The 3,000 or so voters in the Bellingham ward will be included in the new Berwick and Morpeth seat, according to the latest report published this week by the Boundary Commission.

The commission’s proposals, drawn up after a painstaking consultation process, are expected to form the detailed map to go before parliament for consideration next year.

If implemented, the number of MPs returned to the House of Commons will be reduced from 650 to 600, without significant discrepancies in the size of constituency electorates.

As a result, the number of MPs in Northumberland will be reduced from four to three. As part of the radical overhaul, there will be constituencies for Berwick and Morpeth, Ashington and Blyth, and Hexham and Cramlington.

The commission said the creation of the two seats in the north of the county best reflected local ties in the area. And as a result that left Hexham (minus the Bellingham ward) to be linked with Cramlington, although the commission admitted that solution was not ideal.

However, the final recommendations fall in line with submissions from local Conservative parties, which called for the continued link between Tynedale and Ponteland, with the addition of Cramlington.

Draft proposals published in 2016 suggested the creation of a Hexham and Morpeth constituency to include the old Hexham constituency, but extended to include Morpeth and Rothbury. However, the wards of Ponteland West and Stannington, which used to be part of the old Hexham constituency, were recommended for inclusion in the Newcastle North-West seat.

This week’s final recommendations will be seen as less contentious than proposals mooted in 2011, which would have torn up the traditional Hexham constituency boundaries.

The suggestion to hive off the Haltwhistle and South Tynedale wards and lump them into a constituency stretching as far south as Barnard Castle was ridiculed. And the addition of the traditional Labour heartlands of Ryton, Crawcrook and Rowlands Gill into the rump of the Hexham constituency also raised eyebrows.

Hexham's Conservative MP, Guy Opperman, said: "There is undoubtedly a need for constituencies to become larger, and I welcome the proposed addition of Cramlington to my constituency.

"I do however feel strongly that Bellingham should remain part of the Hexham constituency, as it has always been, and I will be making strong representations to the Boundary Commission to ensure that Bellingham remains within the proposed new constituency boundary."