A COUNCILLOR is calling for people to have their say on which MP has responsibility for their area.

Darlington Borough Council Conservative group leader Councillor Tony Richmond wants public consultation to be held over the future of the Sedgefield and Darlington constituency boundaries.

Although Hurworth, Middleton St George, Heighington, Sadberge, Whessoe and Coniscliffe are all covered by Darlington Borough Council, they are in Prime Minister and Sedgefield MP Tony Blair's constituency.

Other parts of Darlington are served by Health Minister Alan Milburn.

The Boundary Commission for England is reviewing parliamentary constituency boundaries in County Durham for the first time since Darlington Borough Council became a unitary authority more than ten years ago.

Apart from minor changes to incorporate new estates at Harrowgate Hill and Faverdale into the Darlington area, the commission has provisionally recommended the boundaries stay unaltered.

That would mean Hurworth and the other rural communities continuing to be served by the Sedgefield MP, even though they are miles away from Sedgefield town.

Darlington Borough Council will meet tonight to discuss the boundaries, and it has been recommended that councillors agree with the commission and leave the boundaries as they are.

But Coun Richmond is calling for a public consultation to allow residents to decide whether the boundaries should change.

He said: "The people of the whole of Darlington should be consulted and their views be adopted by the council and passed on to the commission as the views of the whole area.

"My personal view is that the whole of Darlington should be covered by the same MP. The people in the rural part of Darlington have more in common with the town than they have with Sedgefield.

"After the last election, a lot of people were saying they could not understand why they were covered by the Sedgefield MP when the Darlington MP has more relevance to their lives."

Coun Richmond will argue his case for a public consultation tonight, but Labour council leader John Williams has stated that the boundary commission has already held a public consultation and asked for residents' views, so there is little point in spending money on repeating the exercise.