JOHN Prescott is the Napoleon of British politics, creating armies of bureaucrats to run expensive and pointless regional assemblies, the Tories will claim today.

The Conservatives are to launch their fiercest attack yet on Labour's plans for elected assemblies, one year ahead of the expected referendum in the North-East.

David Davis, the Tory spokesman on devolution, is expected to describe the advantages, which voters have been promised will flow from assemblies, as a series of false claims.

And he is set to turn his fire to Mr Prescott personally, as the main champion of setting up elected chambers in the North-East, North-West and Yorkshire and Humberside.

Mr Davis will say: "If the answer is an extra army of bureaucrats and an extra army of politicians, then what on earth is the question?

"Regional assemblies will mean more politicians and the end of real local government. It's a denial of local government and it's wrong."

The regional assemblies will have the power to raise money through council tax and borrowing and enjoy responsibilities over planning, housing, economic development and, perhaps, transport.

But Mr Davis is expected to say he is confident that the campaign against their establishment - with the Tories at the head of it - will triumph in the referendums.

The Tories say the assemblies will cost a huge amount of money, fail to boost the local economy, fail to give people a voice, fail to solve wider problems and fail to devolve real power.

A spokesman said: "We will be depicting John Prescott as Napoleon, because he is the man who wants to preside over this army of new bureaucrats and politicians."