North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare.
Between 1 April 1974 and 31 March 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon . The district of Woodspring was formed from the municipal boroughs of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead urban districts, Long Ashton Rural District, and part of Axbridge Rural District.
This authority is of interest to us because of two sites related to Albright and Wilson’s previous white phosphorus production at Portishead, and also the satellite waste dump in Clevedon where white phosphorus contamination is known to have caused problems.