AS we said yesterday, the British National Party poses a dilemma for newspapers - and it is a dilemma which warrants further consideration today.

A respected Labour politician telephoned yesterday to express outrage at The Northern Echo for giving front page prominence to the perceived threat from far right extremists in the North-East.

The complaint is indicative of a legitimate concern and one which we share and fully understand.

But we believe it is outweighed by the urgent need to ensure that the 54 BNP members standing for council seats in our region do not benefit from public apathy.

That number of candidates - a quarter of the BNP's quota across the country - represents a concerted campaign in our region and one which must be taken seriously.

Despite the veneer of respectability discussed in the adjacent article, the BNP promotes racism and there is no place for it here or anywhere else.

That is why eminent people such as the Bishop of Durham, The Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, athlete Steve Cram, Sunderland chairman Bob Murray, film producer Lord David Puttnam and former Vaux Brewery boss Frank Nicholson put their names to a statement warning of the danger.

They did so in the knowledge that it would generate publicity - publicity which they hoped would be a spur to those who might not have bothered exercising their right to vote.

There are those who disagree that the BNP is a threat; that it does not have a realistic chance of winning council seats in this region; and that we are simply magnifying the importance of a small-minded bunch of bigots.

Wasn't the same said in Blackburn, Burnley and Halifax - towns where seats were recently won in the BNP's name?

Anything can happen in the world of politics - particularly if apathy allows it to.

Just ask the people of Hartlepool where a man in a monkey suit was elected mayor a year ago.

We all thought that couldn't happen.