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

Leaders of local authorities identified Durham as their preferred choice at a meeting held by Yes campaigners in Darlington.

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

But critics condemned the event - organised by the pro-assembly Yes4TheNorthEast organisation - as premature, saying it could be "all posturing and hot air".

The meeting was attended by council representatives from across the political spectrum, from Darlington to Berwick.

And they emerged to give a ringing endorsement of Durham's claim to be the central location.

Yes4TheNorthEast chairman, Professor John Tomaney, said he was delighted that Newcastle City Council leader Peter Arnold was among those to support Durham.

Authority leaders from Alnwick and Tynedale are opposed to a regional assembly, but said they would back Durham if the referendum led to a "yes" vote.

The backing of the northern authorities was heartily welcomed, following previously voiced fears about a Tyneside bias.

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

"What would be good now would be getting the endorsement of the Association of North-East Councils.

"We will also look to get more and more organisations on board with this."

Paul Thompson, leader of Middlesbrough Council's Labour group, said: "Durham has the East Coast main line, good transport links and is not far from both the region's airports.

"Durham is a fair compromise that should be backed."

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

He said he was pleased to see opinion on Teesside and Tyneside in favour of the Durham campaign.

John Williams, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: "I'm delighted that so many of my council leader colleagues agree that Durham City is the only acceptable location for a future elected assembly."

The majority of councils still have to debate the matter formally, and yesterday's meeting attracted stinging criticism from campaigners fighting the assembly plans.

Neil Herron, campaign director 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. We are now taking on board lots of representation from various groups and we are happy with our position."