A SINGLE unitary council serving County Durham would be the voters' choice in Sedgefield borough, according to the latest survey.

A Mori poll has been carried out on behalf of the Boundary Committee to examine people's preference on any council shake-up in advance of a referendum on a North-East Regional Assembly later this year.

The poll shows that 45 per cent of those questioned in the borough were in favour of the creation of a single, all-purpose council.

The current alternatives of splitting the county up into either two or three separate councils attracted 21 per cent and 17 per cent of the Sedgefield borough vote, respectively.

The overall results of the poll show more than a third - 36 per cent - of all those questioned in the county were also in favour of a single, all-purpose council.

The main reasons for wanting it, they said, were that a single council serving the whole of the county would be more efficient, offer better value for money and be a strong council.

About a quarter of residents - 27 per cent - said they would rather see County Durham split into three all-purpose councils, mainly because they preferred councils to cover smaller areas.

The option of creating two councils by combining Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Durham City and Easington in the north and Sedgefield, Teesdale and Wear Valley in the south, was supported by about one in five people.

But 25 per cent of those questioned thought it was the worst of all three options, and almost as many thought it too would create weak councils