Campaigners for a Yes vote in the referendum on plans for a regional assembly have conceded defeat.

Director of yes4thenortheast, Ross Forbes, said he believed they were heading for a defeat.

The voting figures indicated that 696,519 people said no to an assembly, while 197,310 voted yes to the idea. Official figures suggest around 45 per cent of the region's 1.9 million voters took part.

A No vote is a blow to government plans to increase devolution in the English regions as the North-East was seen as most likely to approve them.

Speaking before the results were announced Mr Forbes said: "Unless something dramatic happens that we don't know about it looks like it will be a defeat."

Full coverage in Friday's Northern Echo.