PEOPLE campaigning for an independent parish council have asked for a poll of all villagers.

The debate over whether Aycliffe Village should separate from Great Aycliffe Town Council has been raging for months.

A public meeting in the village this week ended with a vote in favour of putting the issue to the ballot box.

Campaigners will ask Sedgefield Borough Council to allow the poll to decide the issue once and for all.

Bill Blenkinsopp, who chaired the meeting, said: "People in the village will be able to go to a polling station, probably in the village hall, and make their vote for or against.

"If it's against we can't do anything for another two years, but if it's for a parish council then it goes ahead."

Residents had been invited to the meeting to hear "the facts, the cost and the truth of setting up a new parish council", but some left disappointed that no new information had been provided.

The mood is reflected in a petition objecting to becoming a parish council, which has been circulating in the village.

The parish meeting was attended by more than 130 people, including several members of Great Aycliffe Town Council, which has expressed strong objections to the plan.

Town council clerk Michael Rice said that the parish poll would be irrelevant because the fate of the village now rests with Sedgefield Borough Council.

He said: "The poll cannot stop the proposal, only influence it."

The borough council's consultation period ends on Wednesday.