It was the local authority for the towns of Hoylake and West Kirby, in the north-west of the Wirral Peninsula.

Several civil parishes of the disbanded Wirral Rural District were added in 1933.

These were: Caldy, Frankby, Grange, Greasby and part of Saughall Massie.

As of 2025 it is being redeveloped as part of The Beacon project, consisting of apartments, retail units, an arts centre and cinema.

[4] On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the urban district was abolished and its area absorbed into the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral of the metropolitan county of Merseyside.