Stoke-on-Trent will not lose its lord mayor or city status after local government reorganisation, councillors have been assured.

All 10 principle councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, including Stoke-on-Trent City Council, are set to be abolished and replaced with two new unitary authorities in 2028.

Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands will be covered by the new North Staffordshire council, under the government's plans.

But bosses at Stoke-on-Trent City Council say this will not mean the end of Stoke-on-Trent being a city or having a lord mayor.

Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status by George V in 1925, and celebrated its centenary last year, while Newcastle's borough status goes back to 1173.

In the 1990s, Rochester in Kent lost city status – which it has never regained – due to the issue being overlooked during the creation of the new Medway council.

Members of the strategy and resources scrutiny committee were told that the city council would not be making the same mistake, with both Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle set to retain their statuses.

Committee member Andy Platt asked for clarity on the subject due to there being 'confusion' among the public.

Director of governance James Doble said: "City status and borough status are very important to people, for very good reasons.

"There are no plans whatsoever for city status or borough status to be removed under local government reorganisation. The process of giving borough status or borough status is entirely separate to LGR, but they are inextricably linked."

Stoke-on-Trent has city status due to letters patent being served on the council by the monarch. City status could be lost if the council the letters patent were served on ceased to exist.

But Mr Doble explained the proposal is for charter trustee bodies to be created to take forward city and borough status after LGR.

Charter trustees are councillors elected in wards within the city or borough, who meet to elect a mayor or lord mayor every year.

The new councils are due to be created by a structural changes order (SCO), to be published later this year, while issues such as city status and mayors will be covered by a supplementary order.

Mr Doble added: "Our proposal for North Staffordshire, which was accepted by the government, was very clear on the importance of city status to us, and also the importance of borough status for Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is far older.

"We were very clear that they had to be maintained going forward. The proposal at the moment is for the charter trustee bodies to be implemented by that supplementary SCO.

"It's not just a name, it's just not just of minor significance. It's of importance to the city and the people of the city."

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, added: "Someone asked me whether the changes will mean we won't have Stoke-on-Trent any more, and I told them no – if that were the case I wouldn't be in support of this.

"We had our centenary last year, and the borough of Newcastle is important as well, so we have to stress that."

Elections to the unitary authorities are due to take place next May, and the new councils will take over the running of services in 2028.