A LEADING councillor has called on the people of east Cleveland to back North-East home rule and forget about becoming part of Yorkshire.

Councillor David Walsh, Labour leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, made his impassioned plea after calls were made to remove the words "Tees Valley" from road signs in area.

His call follows moves by opposition councillors who are campaigning against the borough participating in a regional assembly, and for changing the address on council literature from Cleveland to Yorkshire.

Debate on the cultural and socio-economic identity of east Cleveland has been raging since a Government paper proposing a vote on the North-East Regional Assembly was made public.

The Conservative group submitted a motion to the full council demanding the district veto a regional assembly.

That was followed by a motion from east Cleveland Independents that the council addresses should also be changed.

Now, east Cleveland Independents leader Steve Kay has demanded new signs at Newton-under-Roseberry, Scaling Dam and Cowbar, which bear the words "Welcome to Redcar and Cleveland, in the Tees Valley", be replaced with signs that reflect the district's pre-1974 Yorkshire history.

Coun Kay said: "To describe the whole of east Cleveland as 'in the Tees Valley' sums up the attitude of the council which consistently concentrates its energies and resources on the urban core, while neglecting the problems of the rural fringe."

Coun Walsh said: "If you look at the letters pages in the local Press, we spend more time talking about how we describe ourselves than our economic well-being.

"The reality is, we have a common identity and social and economic heritage and should be concentrating on common ambitions.

"We should take pride in where we are from and pull together, not dream of being part of some Narnia over the hills."

Rob Nichols, editor of Middlesbrough FC fanzine Fly Me To The Moon, is also involved in an offshoot website called the People's Republic of Teesside, which can be found at www.theprt.co.uk

He said: "I used to work in east Cleveland and it is true that from Brotton downwards, people seem to have a different view.

"But you must draw the boundary somewhere.

"We are all from the same area and we should all take pride in coming from here."