Cheshire will be looked after by two councils from April 2009

Cheshire County Council and six other councils are to be replaced by two unitary authorities, covering the west and east of the county.

An order to create the two all-purpose authorities was approved by 278 votes to 151.

The new councils will be elected in May and will take over full responsibility in April 2009.

The axe falls on the top tier county council, the existing city authority and the five boroughs.

Chester, Vale Royal and Ellesmere Port and Neston councils will disappear and be replaced by City of Chester and Cheshire West.

Congleton, Macclesfield, and Crewe and Nantwich councils will be merged into East Cheshire Council.

Cheshire MP Mrs Dunwoody has been a vocal opponent

The new unitary authorities will replace the current two-tier system and provide all local council services.

Government ministers say the changes will bring increased efficiency and save money.

Local Government Minister John Healey said: "This is not the government's proposal, it is not the government's prescription for local government arrangements in Cheshire, it has been made to us by democratically elected and accountable councils."

But former Labour minister Gwyneth Dunwoody, MP for Crewe and Nantwich, said dividing the county was a bad idea.

She said: "I am astounded that we are putting the whole of my constituency and everybody else's through the mangle at enormous speed."

Shadow chancellor George Osborne, whose Tatton constituency is in Cheshire, also criticised the decision.

Mr Osborne said it was the result of "a process that many people in the county of Cheshire... believe is wrong, that is unwarranted, that is undemocratic and unsupported by the facts".