The council is set to move the whole of its legal team to Merton after approving merger plans.

Richmond Council’s lawyers will relocate to Merton Council’s civic centre, in Morden, over the next 10 months.

Merton Council will employ all staff in the shared legal services department.

Richmond Council’s cabinet approved the merger at a meeting last Thursday following a successful trial.

The authority is expected to spend £90,000 on relocating the department, plus redundancy pay, but the move will save £100,000 a year.

Councillor Geoffrey Samuel, deputy leader of Richmond Council, said it was too early to say how many staff will lose their jobs.

The authority has signed an agreement with Croydon, Merton, Sutton and Kingston councils to explore ways of sharing responsibilities to cut millions of pounds from their costs, in a major shake-up of local Government in south-west London.

Helen White, head of legal and civic services at Merton Council, was in charge of the shared department during the trial, which started in August last year.

Coun Samuel said: “Bringing our lawyers together with Merton’s is an example of how we can protect our frontline services by taking a critical look at how our back office works.

“Cutting 20 per cent out of the costs of running the two services is a very good start - we expect to see savings of £100,000 in the next financial year.”

The council is due to assess how staff with child care responsibilities, who rely on working close to home, could be affected.

A joint board from both authorities will monitor the department’s performance and direct its strategy.