CONTROVERSIAL plans to sweep away existing councils and replace them with a super authority have suffered a blow.

People who would be affected by the plan in North Yorkshire have given the idea the thumbs-down in a survey by research agency Ipsos MORI.

It showed 77 per cent would prefer to see the existing district and county councils working more effectively together rather than being replaced with a single unitary authority.

The North Yorkshire District Council Network, which commissioned the survey, said the results supported its case to stick with the current system.

But the county council, which is campaigning for unitary status, also welcomed the survey.

"As we expected, the residents of North Yorkshire do not want to see a single unitary created for the county.

"In fact, 69 per cent of them said the current system works well," said the network's spokesman, Hambleton councillor Arthur Barker.

"And a massive 75 per cent agree with our view that one council for whole county will be too remote and less in touch.

"Added to that, 71 per cent say the area is too big to be served by one authority and that councillors would have less power to improve things in their area."

Mr Barker added: "It is vital that these results are taken into consideration.

"The public have spoken and they have said no to a single council for their county."

But North Yorkshire County Council claimed the survey showed people thought the current system was confusing and would not mind if there were fewer councillors representing their area.

It said it showed clear evidence that more than 80 per cent wanted more information before making up their minds and that it also showed that a third of the population believed services were provided by a single authority.

County leader John Weighell said: "One of the principal advantages of our proposals is the scope for making major efficiencies in the way local government is delivered.

"I believe that if the opinion poll had explored that issue more exhaustively, we would have found a very large majority of the population would favour the change to a single, more effective and more efficient tier of government."

A random sample of 2,007 people in all seven areas of the county - Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby - took part in the telephone survey.

Full details can be found at www. hambleton.gov.uk