PEOPLE in County Durham could be asked whether they want one or three all-purpose councils to provide local services.

The county's two-tier system of local Government will be abolished if the North-East votes 'yes' for a regional assembly in this autumn's referendum.

And the Boundary Committee announced this week that it is recommending to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott that two options for a council shake-up appear on the referendum papers for people to vote on.

The committee says a county-wide unitary authority or three smaller unitary councils, formed by amalgamating existing districts are 'the best possible viable options.'

The county authority would be called County Durham Council.

The other proposed councils would be: East Durham - made up by Durham City and Easington, North Durham - formed by Chester-le-Street and Derwentside, and South Durham - covering Sedgefield, Teesdale and Wear Valley.

The committee dropped proposals for two unitary authorities, based on a North/South split.

Durham City Council's suggestion that its boundaries be extended to include places such as Ferryhill, Spennymoor and parts of Chester-le-Street were rejected earlier this year.

The committee says it received more than 1,000 submissions during consultation with the public.

It says key considerations included geography, community leadership, representation and the ability for new authorities to become high performing and deliver quality services.

The committee chairwoman Pamela Gordon said: "In the light of all the evidence put to us, we are satisfied that we are putting forward the best possible viable options for patterns of unitary local government in County Durham.

"Our principal objective has been to ensure our options offer realistic prospects of meeting the needs of people living in all the communities concerned through the creation of strong, sustainable and potentially high-performing unitary authorities.

"Subject to the Deputy Prime Minister's decision on our final recommendations, electors in the two-tier areas of County Durham will be able to vote on their preferred pattern for unitary local government in a referendum later in the year."