Hereford and Worcester was an English
county created on 1 April 1974, by the
Local Government Act 1972 from the area of the former
administrative county of
Herefordshire, most of
Worcestershire (except
Halesowen,
Stourbridge and
Warley, which became part of the
West Midlands) and the
county borough of
Worcester. An aim of the act was to increase efficiency of local government, since the two counties are among England's smaller and least populous counties, particularly after the same act removed some of Worcestershire's most urbanised areas to the West Midlands. It aroused much opposition in the Herefordshire portion, which regarded it as not so much of a merger as a takeover by the Worcestershire side.