PROPOSALS to change parliamentary constituency boundaries in Devon and Cornwall have been branded 'a dog's dinner and illogical' by two West Devon Conservative MPs.

MP for West Devon and Torridge Geoffrey Cox said he was 'very sad and dismayed' by the proposals which would see his existing seat disappear to make way for the so-called 'Devon-wall' constituency of Bideford and Bude.

Mr Cox maintains that the two counties should be fused at Plymouth and Saltash instead of the north coast.

Gary Streeter, whose South West Devon seat, which currently includes Yelverton, would also change under the proposals, said the plans were 'a dog's dinner'.

Mr Streeter could see his constituency absorbed into a seat which includes Okehampton and Tavistock, Bere Ferrers and Plympton.

The two counties will lose one MP in Government plans to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600. The boundary changes would make all constituency sizes the same in terms of population.

Mr Cox said: 'The most logical route to combine Devon and Cornwall would have been with Saltash where there is a community that is already heavily connected to Plymouth.

'I am not happy about the proposals to split Torridge and West Devon. They have been linked as a constituency for around 30 years and it works well.'

He said it was a shame they split West Devon at the last election and put Okehampton into a new Central Devon seat.

'I am very sad and dismayed at the initial proposals but I don't think we should get carried away by this. They are initial proposals and do not become final for another two years.

'They may change, they may not and I certainly would not want them to become a distraction to improving things in Torridge and West Devon.'

The Boundary Commission for England decided against crossing the border at the River Tamar to create a constituency that included Plymouth and Saltash. It said the historic Tamar Bridge presented a far more significant boundary between the two counties.

South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray said 'common sense had prevailed' in the Boundary Commission's decision.