Martin Underwood wrote:
Mind you, county / unitary authority
boundaries seem to be perverse as well: in what used to be called
Berkshire (and which most people, unitary authority notwithstanding,
still *do* call Berkshire!) there's a boundary that runs through the
middle of Reading such that Tilehurst (really a suburb of Reading) is
part of the UA of West Berkshire (administered in Newbury) whereas
the most of the rest of the conurbation of Reading is part of the UA
of Reading. You'd think that common sense would route the boundary in
the un-built-up area outside Reading - and would keep moving that
boundary as Reading expands so that the whole of the conurbation (as
it exists at any time) is always administered from the same place.

Unfortunately, common sense got defeated by politics. Labour in Reading
were worried that widening their boundaries might cause them to lose control
of the council, and the majority parties outside Reading were worried that
one or more of their boroughs might disappear if Reading was enlarged. The
result is that the 19th century boundaries are still in place!

Berkshire still exists by the way. It has a Fire and Rescue Service for
example.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)