Stoke-on-Trent councillors have criticised plans to merge the city with Lichfield and Tamworth – saying Stokies have little in common with those areas.

Staffordshire County Council has proposed to divide the county into eastern and western authorities, in response to the government's plans for the biggest shake-up of councils since the 1970s.

The proposal would see Stoke-on-Trent join with the Staffordshire Moorlands, East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth to form a new East Staffordshire unitary authority. Meanwhile, Newcastle would merge with Stafford, Cannock Chase and South Staffordshire in a separate West Staffordshire council.

County council leaders say this model would meet the government's requirements and result in two authorities with the best chance of succeeding. But Labour and Conservative elected members on Stoke-on-Trent City Council believe an east-west division makes little geographical or administrative sense, with Tamworth being 40 miles away from the Potteries.

The city council is backing an alternative plan which would see Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and Staffordshire Moorlands join together in a new North Staffordshire council, with the rest of the county forming a separate southern authority. City councillors reiterated their support for this option at Thursday's full council meeting, saying that it made sense for Stoke-on-Trent to join with its North Staffordshire neighbours.

Labour councillor Sarah Hill said: "I was very perplexed when I read the county council's suggestions for an east-west split. I have nothing against the people in Tamworth, I'm sure they're delightful people, but we don't have much in common with them, and I'm sure they'd say the same about us. It's a long way away. Most people in Stoke probably wouldn't know how to get to Tamworth.

"And to separate us from Newcastle makes no sense at all. Our borders with Newcastle are very permeable. I have children in my local high school who live in Newcastle, I go to the dentist and the cinema in Newcastle. We're very close together and that's important."

Conservative group leader Dan Jellyman acknowledged that the east-west split would align with the M6 and A50 economic development corridors, but said this would be trumped by the arguments in favour of a North Staffordshire council.

He said: "The proposed East Staffordshire would be a huge geographical area, over 40 miles in length. The fact that it would be a longitudinal shape would provide difficulties in delivering services. You'd have to look at having multiple depots, you'd look at how many access points for residents you'd be providing.

"And the housing needs in Lichfield are dramatically different to the housing needs in a post-industrial city. At first glance, the east and west proposals don't seem to have a really good fit."

Fellow Conservative councillor Dave Evans said: "As someone who spends more time than most driving around Staffordshire, I did think the county council's proposals were poorly thought through. Culturally we have very little in common with Lichfield, nor they with us. But if you fly over Stoke-on-Trent in an aeroplane you will not see where Newcastle ends or begins."

Council services in most parts of Staffordshire are currently divided between the county council and the eight districts and boroughs – Stoke-on-Trent City Council is a separate unitary that provides all these services. The government wants to replace this two-tier system with a single layer of unitary authorities, which it says will be more effective and efficient.

Councils have been given until November 28 to come up with their final proposals for unitarisation, with the government to make the final decision. City councillors will consider the final submission to government at a special meeting on November 20.

Council leader Jane Ashworth said: "What we want to see is a council for North Staffordshire. North Staffordshire makes sense as a cultural entity and as a travel-to-work area. We need transport planning that spans the area, and there's no reason why we can't have better services if they're planned across a wider area too.

"Local government reorganisation, far from being a Stoke-on-Trent takeover, will be the amalgamation of the best parts of the area. They will be pulled together into a larger, more efficient, more effective council, where residents will know they're getting the best value for money."