A POLL released today shows just how tough the battle is going to be for the Government to persuade the North-East and Yorkshire that they need to have their own regional assemblies.

The survey reveals that, initially, 48 per cent of North-East voters supported the idea of a "mini-parliament", with 39 per cent against - a surprisingly large margin that the Government will take some comfort from.

But once the pollsters - who were commissioned by the anti-assembly Conservative Party - had presented the pros and cons of the yes and no campaigns to respondents, 34 per cent said they were in favour, while the anti-vote had risen to 47 per cent.

In Yorkshire and Humberside, the poll shows that opinion is running against regional government. On the pollsters' initial approach, 39 per cent were against, 35 per cent in favour and 26 per cent undecided.

The proportion in favour slumped to just 19 per cent - with 55 per cent against - when the for and against arguments were presented.

The Tories seized on the results as evidence that voters, when given more information about the proposal, turned against the idea of elected regional bodies.

Bernard Jenkin, regional government spokesman, said: "Is this why the Government is giving out so few real facts about its proposals? Why won't ministers give clear answers?"

But a Government spokeswoman pointed out that the referendum is not until October and said ministers planned to step up their information campaign.

She said: "We are not on top of the referendum at the moment and we are aware that a lot of work is needed to engage people and get them talking about this issue."

The poll - carried out by YouGov - interviewed 441 people in the North-East and 478 in Yorkshire and Humberside.

It also revealed that people in Yorkshire were less attached to their region than to their county, city, town or neighbourhood.

However, in the North-East, people identified more with their region.

Before the referendum, the Boundary Commission must make recommendations about the re-shaping of local government. These are expected to lead to the abolition of county councils.

* Paul Briggs has been elected as vice-chairman of the North-East Assembly.

Mr Briggs has represented the business sector on the assembly's economic and social partners group for the past three years.

A governor of Durham Johnson Comprehensive School, he succeeds Gill Hale, regional secretary of public sector union, Unison.

* Regional Assembly campaigners will launch their new website at their offices, in Bank Chambers, in the Market Place, Durham, today. www.yes4thenortheast.com, promotes the campaign's message in support of a North-East assembly.