A shake-up of a number of Copeland's parish councils has taken a major step forward.

Three parishes – Beckermet with Thornhill, Parton and Seascale – are subject to a review that could see a reduction in councillor numbers, and residents are now being asked to give their views.

The shake-up has been proposed after each of the parishes asked Copeland Council to review their setup. If the proposals are given the go-ahead, the parish councils would see a reduction in the number of councillors they are required to have; Beckermet with Thornhill to 12 (from 14), Parton to 11 (from 13) and Seascale to eight (from 12).

Beckermet with Thornhill only had seven nominations at last year's election. In Seascale, it has space for 12 but only had six nominations.

The low take-up of places can be problematic, says Seascale's chair David Moore, as a council meeting must have a minimum number of members present in order to make decisions. That figure is based on the total members it is allowed to have, rather than the number it does have, he added.

"We've been unable to fill all of our parish seats for the last eight years," said Coun Moore. "To be legally quorate [so decisions can be made], we must have a quarter of our total plus one present, and that means four members, which can be difficult during the summer and other busy times.

"By reducing the total number we require to eight, it makes sense from an administrative point of view. And as well as the difficulty of getting 12 people to stand, we don't believe it needs 12 people to represent a village that only has around 1,700 residents."

A consultation was launched on December 19 and runs until February 6 with details available on each of the three councils' websites. If changes are agreed by Copeland Council in April, they would take effect at the next election in 2019.

While in Egremont, a merger of the town council's boundaries is expected to be given the go-ahead.

The council applied for a review of its boundaries, with members favouring two wards (north and south) with five councillors each, rather than the existing four (north, south, central and east). There would be no reduction in numbers.

The public consultation has ended with no responses received, and the proposals are now set to be rubber-stamped by Copeland in April.