THE Government should decide the location of a North-East regional assembly before the devolution referendum, councillors say.

Durham County Council believes the new assembly, proposed in a Government White Paper, should be based in the county because it is in the centre of the region.

And it says where the headquarters are could affect whether voters support or oppose the new body.

It is calling for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, rather than the assembly, to decide the location before the vote.

Council chief executive Kingsley Smith said: "This is a factor which will influence voters' attitudes on whether regional government seems to them a good thing.

"Given the particular geography of the North-East, the optimum location is in the centre of gravity of all of the communities of the region, namely somewhere in County Durham.

"However, if the decision was left to the new assembly, the balance of power geographically will lie with Tyne and Wear plus Northumberland, as against County Dur-ham plus Tees Valley.

"It would therefore be sensible for the Secretary of State to have powers to determine in which of the four sub-regions the headquarters should be located and to make this decision known before a referendum takes place.''

The council's cabinet has welcomed the White Paper in principle but is calling for the assembly to have more powers than proposed, including, at least, control of Business Link, the Learning and Skills Council and youth service Connexions.

In its formal response to the White Paper the council will press for a countywide unitary council instead of authorities based on the existing districts, meaning that a tier of local government will be scrapped if an assembly is created.

A spokeswoman for the regional assembly said: "No decision has been taken on where the assembly will be.

"That will form part of the debate about the assembly.''