County Borough of Teesside

The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near the mouth of the River Tees. The council was based in Middlesbrough, the area's largest town. The county borough was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the new county of Cleveland, which covered a larger area, with the county borough's territory being split between three of the four districts created in the new county. Prior to 1968 the area was governed by the six separate authorities of Billingham, Eston, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby-on-Tees. Middlesbrough was a county borough, providing all local government services in its area; the others were all district-level authorities, with strategic functions provided by their respective county councils. The River Tees formed the boundary between County Durham and North Riding of Yorkshire and so Durham County Council provided county-level services to Billingham and Stockton, and North Riding County Council provided such services to Eston, Redcar and Thornaby. The six districts were abolished and merged into a single county borough called Teesside, with some adjustments to the boundaries with neighbouring districts. For ceremonial purposes the new borough was included in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but as a county borough it was independent from North Riding County Council. Shortly after Teesside was created work began on a more fundamental review of local government, in which it was decided that the Teesside area should form part of a larger new county, also including Hartlepool and some of the conurbation's rural hinterland. The new county was called Cleveland and came into force in 1974. The old area of the county borough was split between the districts of Langbaurgh, Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees, which were three of the four districts within Cleveland.