A CAMPAIGN has been launched against plans to give the region its own elected assembly.

Opponents of a North-East Regional Assembly claim there is no real support for home rule and that an assembly would be costly, bureaucratic and would be to the detriment of local authorities.

The "No" campaign is being led by Neil Herron of Sunderland - more commonly known as a champion of imperial weights and measures and a spokesman for the Metric Martyr Defence Fund.

"We feel that the views of the ordinary people in the North-East need to be represented as opposed to the self-interest groups purporting to be 'the people's voice'," he said.

"We do not need another layer of bureaucracy which, under the White Paper, will not have any real powers and will take democracy further away from the people."

The NEARA campaign (North-East Against a Regional Assembly), claims to be a non-political body, says that taxes will probably have to be raised to help pay for the assembly and estimates start-up costs of £2bn.

It is also concerned that the assembly will lack intimate local knowledge and that Westminster will eventually be bypassed.

There have been a number of polls in the region assessing feelings about home rule. They include a survey of almost 200 companies by the North-East Chamber of Commerce which revealed that while 70 per cent would like regional government, the majority believed an assembly would not have sufficient powers to make a difference.

Tony Flynn, chairman of the North-East Regional Assembly, said: "For many years the North-East region has had aspirations for a regional assembly and I believe that there is a groundswell of support.

"Greater control of our own affairs will have significant benefits for the North-East."