Bankrupt Woking to get £500m bailout in Surrey council shake-up

Unprecedented' move helps to smooth over creation of two new mega council' unitary authorities

Ministers have agreed to give bankrupt Woking council an unprecedented" 500m taxpayer bailout under government plans to merge a dozen local authorities in Surrey.

In a historic intervention, the communities secretary, Steve Reed, said the government would repay a significant chunk of the debt owed by the former Tory-run local authority.