KEY figures from the campaign that delivered the No vote in the referendum on a directly-elected assembly for the North-East are to establish a pressure group demanding greater devolution for the region.

Buoyed by their overwhelming success in November's poll, in which almost 80 per cent of the electorate voted against the proposed assembly, leaders of the now-disbanded North East Says No are to set up their new organisation in the New Year.

Recruitment of members is expected to begin in January, starting with former supporters of the No campaign, then widening out to the business community and the professions.

Members of the as-yet-unnamed organisation say it will look at ways of transferring power from politicians and civil servants in London to people in the North-East.

The body would play a key campaigning role in the North-East in any future referendum on the European Union constitution.

Leaders of the organisation say they have no plans to field candidates in forthcoming elections or to staff a full-time office in the short term.

However, achieving such resounding success in a referendum in which almost half the electorate voted is likely to give it an influential voice in regional affairs.

Throughout the referendum, No supporters argued that the status quo had left the region's economy lagging behind the rest of the country

But they said the proposed assembly would be costly and have no real powers.

The new body is being established by John Elliott, a businessman from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, and campaign colleague Philip Cummings, with the backing of public relations expert Graham Robb and former campaign director James Frayne, all senior North East Says No figures.

They say it will publish discussion papers highlighting ways of bringing powers over policing, education and the economy back to the region.

One of the areas will be possibly increasing the role of directly-elected mayors.

Mr Elliott, who was the chairman of the no group, said: "I think we all agree that we can't just carry on as we are and we have a great opportunity to generate a real debate on how we take the North-East forward.

"We need to develop alternatives which take powers away from politicians and civil servants in London, and which give local people and professionals real power over services that matter."