A COUNCIL'S efforts to reduce the size of a breakaway authority on its patch reduced have been dismissed by the Government.

Residents in Stanley, County Durham, want to break away from Derwentside District Council and form their own town council.

The district council had suggested that the proposed new authority should only cover the district wards of Havannah, South Moor and Tanfield, rather than the wider Stanley area as requested by more than 2,500 residents who signed a petition in support of the proposal.

But the Department for Communities and Local Government has told the district council that any new town council should cover all of the Stanley electoral area.

North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones, who had supported the bid for a town council, welcomed the decision.

He also called on Derwentside District Council to ensure that there would be no further delay in setting up the town council.

Mr Jones said: "This decision is good news for Stanley.

"Derwentside District Council has made no secret of its opposition to a Stanley Town Council, but my constituents in Stanley have told me that this is what they want, which is why I've supported it.

"It will give people in Stanley a greater say in local matters, and I would urge Derwentside council to abandon its futile attempts to disrupt and delay the plans.

"Despite the failure of its costly referendum last year to influence the Secretary of State's decision, I am aware that Derwentside council had discussed plans to hold a second referendum. I hope it will now agree that this is totally unnecessary, and will instead get on with helping the Electoral Commission to prepare for the first elections."

District council leader Councillor Alex Watson said: "We are not saying that Stanley should not have a town council, but that people should want one."

He said the Government had taken more notice of a petition than the "bona fide survey" carried out by the council, which found the majority of Stanley residents did not want a town council.

Coun Watson said: "We have reached an impasse and want a referendum that should identify exactly what people would be voting for."

The Office for the Deputy Prime Minister decided in November last year that Stanley could have a town council after more than ten per cent of voters signed a petition backing the proposal.