"The message is clear" say campaigners as tens of thousands of voices opposed to major Leicester boundary changes have been heard in the latest bid to block the controversial move.

A petition of more than 40,000 signatures was handed to Downing Street on Monday (September 14), with all of them voicing their opposition to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans for Leicester and the wider county.

The controversial move, which was agreed by the Government in July, would see Leicester city's boundary expanded to include towns and villages previously served by Leicestershire councils, including Birstall, Glenfield, Narborough, Oadby and Wigston.

Two new unitary councils would also be made – one for the city and one for the county and Rutland as part of these plans, with existing councils all scrapped.

However, the communities secretary Angela Rayner paused plans for LGR in Leicestershire last week along with 14 other areas in the country following new legal advice.

At Downing Street to hand over the petition against LGR on Monday were Conservative MPs Dr Luke Evans, Neil O'Brien, Alicia Kerns, Alberto Costa, Edward Argar, and Peter Bedford.

They were joined by Cllr Deborah Taylor, Conservative leader at Leicestershire County Council, Market Harborough District Council leader Simon Whelband and Blaby District Council leader Ben Taylor.

Speaking about the petition, Dr Evans said it showed an "extraordinary demonstration of public concern from communities".

He added: "Residents have made their views crystal clear. They do not want decisions imposed upon them from Whitehall, nor do they want a Leicester City land grab which was never part of the original submissions made by local councils.

"For more than a year, I have warned that this process has been rushed, confused and badly handled. Time and again local people raised legitimate concerns, only to feel those concerns were being ignored.

"Now ministers have been forced to stop and reconsider the very decisions they were insisting only weeks ago were correct. It raises serious questions about what went wrong and why these concerns were not addressed sooner.

"This isn't about party politics. It is about standing up for the communities we represent. More than 40,000 signatures send a powerful message to the Government that local people expect to be listened to."

Conservative MP for Rutland and Stamford, Alicia Kerns, added: "The message is clear: our local communities do not want local government reorganisation and we will not be forced into mega councils".

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Leicester City Labour mayor Sir Peter Soulsby previously said he was confident the city expansion would proceed despite the pause.

He added: "The Government has made it very clear they are still committed to devolution. What this means is that it's going to take a little bit longer, and that is bad news for all of us, whatever our views are.

"It's clearly still going to happen, it's just not going to happen next year. They've pressed the pause button but it's their intention after they've had a chance to look at the processes that are needed for it [LGR], they are intending to go ahead".

The LDRS contacted the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment.

A MHCLG spokesperson previously said: "Local government reorganisation in Leicestershire will put one council in charge of decisions in their area.

"This will speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure, improve public services and boost regional growth to put more money in people's pockets."

An East Midlands Labour spokesperson also previously said the current two-tier system is a "complex, wasteful and outdated two-tier system," with LGR bringing in cost savings of up to £40 million a year, which are being put into frontline services rather than paying for extra managers, councillors and buildings.