TWO accountancy firms near South-ampton broke off their impending marriage after merger costs proved a major stumbling block, it emerged today.

The much-vaunted tie-up between Langdowns DFK, which has offices in Eastleigh and Andover, and smaller CW Fellowes in Chandler's Ford had been due to take place last month.

It would have created an enlarged practice, specialising in all areas of accountancy and tax, with the combined clout of 100 staff and 3,500 clients.

Langdowns and CW Fellowes first revealed their ambitions to be a big player regionally by issuing joint statements to the Daily Echo four months ago.

However, the grand plan was recently cancelled, without any public statements, amid concerns about tax and operational costs linked to the merger.

Bill Cuthbert, the head of CW Fellowes, which has seven directors and 40 staff, said: "I'm not going to gild the lily on this we are disappointed, as strategically it really would have been good to have a larger, independent, locally-managed business such as the one we were trying to put together.

"It would have been highly desirable, but the tax and operational costs of the merger were, at this time, too much for us to bear.

"We have not fallen out with Langdowns, we are still friends and we have since seen the guys there."

Mr Cuthbert said the merger was definitely off, but that there was a "reasonable chance" something might happen at a later stage if the time was right.

Bob Law, chief executive of Langdowns, said: "We definitely have not fallen out, and we have agreed that we will keep an eye open for oppurtunities to work together in future whenever it benefits our clients.

"The only reason we could not complete was because of structural difficulties, and also an issue regarding the head office.

"We were not achieving timescales and we did not want to keep people wondering. Neither party has ruled out a merger in the future, even if we have to go around the houses a few times first."