NO - loud and clear

In an historic poll, the region resoundingly voted against the idea of a directly-elected regional assembly to govern the North-East's affairs.

In total, 696,519 people voted against and 197,310 voted in favour.

The final turnout was 47.7 per cent. About 896,829 people across the region voted out of the 1.9 million eligible to do so.

When all the figures were totalled they revealed a terrible picture for the Government, with 78 per cent against the idea and 22 per cent in favour.

Not even a rush of last-minute votes - mainly Labour faithful roused to help the party win the Yes vote - was enough to save the day.

The verdict almost certainly spells the end of Government plans to hold referendums in Yorkshire and the North-West.

It is also a huge blow to the hopes of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott - who had campaigned tirelessly for a Yes vote - and a huge embarrassment for Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose Sedgefield constituency was a key battleground.

The result - predicted in an exclusive Mori poll for The Northern Echo three weeks ago - was hailed as a great victory by the No campaign, but proponents of the idea said it was a bad day for the North-East.

For years, the region has complained that its remoteness from London saw it losing out on investment and funding. The belief among supporters of a regional assembly was that such a body would help wrest some of that control away from the South.

But there was confusion among voters over what powers an assembly would have.

Although it would have controlled a budget of about £450m, with a say over a further £600m, supporters were forced to concede it would not control transport policy, policing, education or the health service.

It also seemed that many voters were cynical that the cost of running an assembly would only amount to an extra 5p a week in council tax for an average band D home - a message reinforced by the No campaign's inflatable white elephant.

Privately supporters admitted that the Yes campaign had failed to get its message across despite high-profile support from Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon, former Olympic athlete Brendan Foster and a string of Cabinet ministers.

Mr Prescott, a supporter of regional devolution for two decades, stuck by the plan to the last. He flew in to be present at the count after standing in for the Prime Minister at a meeting in Brussels.

He tried to put a brave face on the result.

"What I am not disappointed about is giving the chance to the people," he said.

A delighted John Elliott, chairman of the North-East Says No campaign, said: "We were up against a lot of heavyweights - almost the entire North-East political establishment including the local authorities, the trade unions and 80 per cent of the media.

"And at the end of the campaign, in waded the Government. Gordon Brown was here twice, John Prescott seemed to be here all the time."

Graham Robb, a spokesman for the No campaign, said: "They ran a bigger campaign but we ran a better campaign.

"This result is a kick in the teeth for the political establishment and the London-based politicians who wanted to foist this upon us.

"It goes to show that if you put a white elephant up against John Prescott, John Prescott will lose.

"We ran a campaign that was in tune with the people. They don't believe that the answer is more government with more bureaucracy."

Durham-based North-East No campaigner Neil Herron, said: "There was more chance of Shergar winning the Grand National with Lord Lucan on his back than the people of the North-East voting Yes."

Professor John Tomaney, of the Yes campaign, said: "It's very disappointing news. Clearly the people of the North-East have rejected what was on offer from the Government. We have to accept now the prospect of a North-East regional assembly recedes into the very far future.

"The proposal to create a regional assembly was quite a complex idea and we failed to demonstrate how it would benefit people as individuals. It was a difficult task made more difficult by the limited powers which people perceived to be on offer.

"We were promising them jam tomorrow as the powers weren't strong but we hoped they would grow in time."

Sir John Hall, another big name Yes backer, said : "I am very disappointed. It's very difficult to sell a dream. I am 72 and don't believe anybody will resurrect this in my lifetime. The momentum has gone."

However, Ray Mallon struck a defiant note. He said: "This will not set the North-East back at all, this has put the North-East of England on the map."

The size of the No vote made a vote on the future shape of local councils purely academic.

The vote was so close as to be almost inconclusive, although when all the votes were counted there was a small majority of 2,000 in favour of one county-wide council.

Although the shake-up would have only taken place if the Yes campaign had won the day, Ken Manton, leader of Durham County Council, said he would still be urging Mr Prescott to move immediately to a single unitary authority to govern County Durham.