COUNCIL chiefs from across the North-East joined forces to back Durham City as the best home for a regional assembly.

Leaders of local authorities identified Durham as their preferred choice at a meeting held by Yes campaigners in Dar*ington on Tuesday.

Senior figures from Teesside and Tyneside were among those who gave their blessing to Durham as headquarters, should the November 4 referendum go in favour of establishing a North-East assembly.

Yes4TheNorthEast, the pro-assembly organisation organised the meeting, attended by council representatives from across the political spectrum, from Darlington to Berwick.

Yes4TheNorthEast chairman Prof John Tomaney said: "We have probably got a majority of local authorities in the region that support Durham."

Durham County Council leader Ken Manton said the city already had a number of regional headquarters and wanted to build on that.

Most councils still have to debate the matter formally, and the meeting attracted criticism from campaigners fighting the assembly plans.

Neil Herron, of the North-East No Campaign, said: "Surely this is something they should only be discussing after a Yes vote. It could be just all posturing and hot air - there is no way on earth a yes vote is guaranteed."