A CONTROVERSIAL vote by MPs could give health officials the power to add fluoride to drinking water.

Following last night's free vote, health chiefs in County Durham and the Tees Valley will attempt to get public backing to make the changes in the North-East.

A Conservative bid to block the Water Bill's second reading failed by 356 votes to 136. The Bill now goes to its detailed committee.

If cleared by Parliament, the Bill will allow strategic health authorities (SHA) - if they have public support - to force water companies to fluoridate, after evidence that it can dramatically cut tooth decay.

The County Durham and Tees Valley SHA has said it hopes to carry out a public consultation as early as next year. If residents are in favour, fluoride would be added to all drinking water in the area.

Hartlepool, where fluoride occurs naturally, Gateshead and pockets of north Durham already have it added to water.

Dentists overwhelmingly back the move, pointing to figures revealing that children in fluoridated areas, such as the West Midlands, have far fewer rotten teeth.

The average five-year-old in County Durham and Darlington has 2.06 decayed, missing or filled teeth, compared with 1.12 in Birmingham 1 in Walsall, 0.93 in Coventry (0.93) and 0.67 in Dudley.

David Walker, the SHA's director of public health, said: "There is overwhelming evidence that fluoridation would prevent tooth decay and very little evidence of adverse affects.

"It would be wrong to take a decision before we have asked people what they want and we will be looking to do that as soon as possible."

But steps to make it easier for health chiefs to insist upon fluoridation have angered the Green Party, which insists the chemical used is a "toxic waste product".

Spokeswoman Margaret Wright said: "It comes from the pollution scrubber liquor used to clean chimneys in phosphate fertiliser factories and it's never been safety tested for human consumption."

Critics also claim many countries, including Canada, Finland, Cuba and parts of Germany, have abandoned water fluoridation without any change in tooth decay rates.

Some water companies have refused requests to fluoridate, fearing the threat of legal action. But the new legislation would allow strategic health authorities to force them to comply.

Elliot Morley, Environment Minister, said the current law wrongly placed the power to decide an important health issue in the hands of water companies.