DISCUSSIONS are under way about creating a multi-million pound headquarters for three of Oxfordshire's councils in Didcot, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

Secret talks have taken place between senior councillors at Oxfordshire County Council, Vale of White Horse District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council, who believe they could save cash by sharing premises.

It would see the county council sell Grade II-listed County Hall in Oxford – located on highly valuable land – and move out of the city for the first time in its 128-year history.

And the Didcot Gateway site, opposite Didcot Parkway Station, is seen as the ideal place for the new building, sources said.

While any move is unlikely to happen in the immediate future, it would mean the county council could move to a more accessible site while having a valuable asset to sell and would also solve problems for its partners.

South Oxfordshire (SODC) and Vale of White Horse district councils, which share staff and services, have been without a purpose-built headquarters since their former building in Crowmarsh Gifford was destroyed in an arson attack in January 2015.

Since then, staff have been based at 135 Eastern Avenue, in Milton Park, with many often 'hot desking'' or working from home.

The sensitivity of the talks mean few are prepared to talk about it publicly but it is not being ruled out.

When asked about possible future sharing agreements, SODC leader John Cotton said: "I am always interested in exciting mergers of public services, but right now we negotiating an extension on our lease at Milton Park.

"In the longer term, who knows?"

One senior figure also suggested Didcot could therefore become the home of a proposed 'super council' if the idea was approved by the Government, but others played that possibility down.

The super council plan, which will be examined by the Government after the General Election, would involve merging all of Oxfordshire's councils into a single authority but is opposed by Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and Cherwell District Council. Those three were not involved in discussions about the headquarters.

One county council cabinet member stressed the talks so far had been 'informal' but added: "If the [super council] does not get the green light, there was broad agreement that it would make sense for the county, South and Vale to look at the possibility of a shared HQ in somewhere like Didcot.

"But if the super council did go ahead, the feeling was the building would have to be more central and the obvious choice is Oxford.

"That would not necessarily mean County Hall – it might be somewhere out of town.

"It was agreed we would need to have more conversations about it."

Another county councillor put it more bluntly: "There's an obvious problem with Didcot – it's too far away from Banbury."

That councillor said the idea of shared offices had first been suggested two years ago but 'nothing had ever come of it'.

But other sources said the recent debate about the super council had led to renewed discussions about whether the county council could move into buildings with its allies.

In the 'Better Oxfordshire' proposal for a super council, the county, Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire councils said merging the £1bn property portfolios of all of Oxfordshire's authorities would allow 'substantial rationalisation'.

This would 'free up property for redevelopment', it added. County council leader Ian Hudspeth also suggested in 2015 that a 'virtual' merger of councils could see them share back-office staff but still maintain offices in each district.

The county council has long discussed the prospect of whether it should move out of County Hall and is currently carrying out a review of all its property.

Cabinet member for property Lorraine Lindsay-Gale told the Oxford Mail last year that 'nothing is off the table'.

The Grade-II listed building was built in the 1840s and hosts the council's debating chamber.

Its more modern, brutalist extension, known as New County Hall, was added in the 1970s but councillors have previously called for it to be bulldozed.