Bishop Auckland is to take a step towards setting up its own town council next week.

Wear Valley District Council members are expected to back a bid from campaigners keen to give the town its own voice.

A special district council meeting on Tuesday would then pass a formal application to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Volunteers have already toured the town and have collecting 1,299 signatures to demonstrate that more than ten per cent of people in the town want a new representative body.

Further approval has come from Durham County Council, Stanhope and West Auckland parish councils, and Tow Law Town Council, as well as the Durham Association of Parish and Town Councils.

Proposals are to split the town between 11 wards in the district council boundaries of Bishop Auckland Town, Cockton Hill, Henknowle and Woodhouse Close.

District officers are suggesting that this should be cut to ten, to coincide with the present number of seats.

Councillor Margaret Jones, district chairwoman and member for the town ward, expects full backing for the bid.

She said: "I will support it and I think everybody else will as well. It has been a long time coming and I want it to be a success.

"It will be good for Bishop Auckland to have its own voice. The town is very much on the up at the moment. I can definitely feel a real buzz about the place and this can only be another good move."

Retired social worker Dorothy Davison co-ordinated the town council campaign because she wanted to make Bishop Auckland a better place to live.

She said: "We have had tremendous support. I don't think anybody has been against it. We are not political people. We just want to do something that will benefit the whole community. It is time Bishop Auckland was back in its rightful place as the central focus for the Wear Valley district."

The bid will be considered at a special meeting of the district's central resources committee on Tuesday, at 2pm, followed by a special full council meeting at 6pm.