A NEW tier of local government could be established in a large part of Durham City.

Eight parishes in the city, with a total population of 24,618, do not have a parish council unlike other parts of the district further from the city centre.

Now Durham City Council is looking at whether one parish or town council should be created or councils established in each parish.

Either the county council or the city council will be abolished, to be replaced by unitary service provision, if the 'Yes' campaign wins November's vote for a directly-elected regional assembly. Parish councils will remain.

Many parish councils, often depending on the size of the community, carry out comparatively few functions and levy little council tax but are important in relaying grassroots opinion to higher authority.

But in some bigger areas they do a lot of work and have big budgets.

Brandon and Byshottles, the district's biggest parish council, has six wards, 21 councillors and serves 11,830 people.

The council's scrutiny committee is to look into the issue and proposals could eventually be put out to public consultation.

Council leader Sue Pitts said: "This is just the start of the process. There is a long way to go and it has to be what people want."

She said that parish councils could have an enhanced role to play in reflecting local views and opinion if the existing local government structure was replaced by one unitary, or all-purpose, council for the entire county.