The 2 UK cities 'set to merge' as mega city touted

Two ancient UK cities have been touted to merge in the coming years. Cheltenham and Gloucester are two separate settlements separated by the A40, which has Gloucestershire Airport to the north. The former's origins were as an Anglo-Saxon village, before it acted as a sort of Roman service station between Cirencester and Gloucester, and turned into a prosperous market town. Later, in the 18th century, it was viewed as a fashionable spa town, and was boosted by a royal visit by George III in 1788. It is the home of the famous annual Cheltenham Festival, which horse racing fans attend from around the world.

Gloucester is famous for its 11th-century cathedral, which is where King Edward II was entombed. The city's docks feature restored Victorian warehouses, a dry dock and the Mariners Chapel, with the National Waterways Museum celebrating the city's industrial past. The city became infamous in the 1990s as the place where the grisly actions of serial killers Fred and Rose West were uncovered.

Top the north west of Gloucester are the villages of Churchdown and Innsworth.

Even though they are separated from the city by the A40, to the untrained eye, they could be suburbs.

To the east of Gloucester Airport, there are the villages of Staverton Bridge and Bamfurlong.

There are only four fields the seperate the latter from the city of Cheltenham.

Some locals believe it is only a matter of time until the cities become one.

One person wrote on Reddit: "I think Cheltenham and Gloucester will merge properly by 2050, especially with the developments near the B4063.

"It's almost contiguous built up area anyway. By extension, I can see Bishops cleeve maybe being merged into this as well."

Another account suggested that cities in the UK won't be morphing into mega cities "during our lifetimes".

They added: "This is, after all, how cities are created: by the merging of individual towns, villages, cities and boroughs into one another as development expands and expands."

The user believes that Gloucester and Cheltenham could become one city in more than 200 years' time.

This would be preferable to building in other parts of the wider county, it has been said.

One resident added: "Equally it should be done well, and things like the creation of of a new larger rail station (transport hub) like the council has already proposed should be at the heart of it.

"We have to accept places are growing, better to have one large city well designed than have a loss of green space everywhere else especially given the amount of AONB, flood plains and other nature hotspots locally."

The merger is inevitable, it is thought.

Another person wrote: "I think Cheltenham and Gloucester are going to become one giant urban area regardless of what the councils think.

"The B4063 as is basically just feels semi-urban as is between Gloucester and Cheltenham and I bet things like the Golden Valley development will only cause estates to emerge that turn Gloucester and Cheltenham into essentially one large conurbation anyway.

"If I remember correctly, there was even a plan that had this happen anyway to build more houses anyway."

A council document leaked last year revealed plans to build 142,400 new homes that could effectively merge Gloucester and Cheltenham, the BBC reported.

Gloucestershire County Council's growth strategy suggested the creation of new garden towns in places like Boddington, Standish, Kemble and Aylburton.

The council structure in Gloucestershire is also set to be transformed when its seven county and district councils are replaced with either one or two new "super authorities".