FORMER Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson has stepped up his campaign for a North- East regional assembly.

The Hartlepool MP also backs drastic reform of local government "to empower local people".

In a speech, he claimed there was a false choice being presented between those who support regional assemblies, and having directly-elected mayors.

''I disagree with those who believe a regional authority would be little more than a talking shop", he told a local government conference.

"Towns and cities in the North-East like Newcastle, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Stockton, and indeed Hartlepool, require stronger local government, attracting inward investment and encouraging a renaissance in urban living."

Local people should be given a greater say in shaping and influencing the decisions that affect their daily lives, he said.

"Rather than keep money exclusively in Government programmes, give a chunk of the money to all those people desperate to run programmes themselves," he said.

Directly-elected mayors for towns and cities would "see an end to government characterised by lack of clear accountability, of leadership that is too often weak and divided, and a style of decision-making that is simply too partisan," he said.