The Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England and its local authority is Sefton Council. Sefton was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the former county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, and, from the administrative county of Lancashire, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of the Rural District of West Lancashire. It also formed part of the new county of Merseyside. The borough consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea, and extends from Bootle in the south, to Southport in the north. In the south-east, it extends inland to Maghull. The district is bounded by Liverpool to the south, Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.