LOCAL authorities say they will adjust to the new timetable for the county council elections.

Durham and North Yorkshire county councils say the change in date is not causing major problems.

Durham County Council leader Councillor Don Robson said: "We have had to have an immediate look at our administrative arrangements for the elections and re-jig the whole programme by five weeks."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: "There is a certain degree of inconvenience, but it is not a great problem to us and we just need to put things back for five weeks.

"Because we are moving into an election period, we have held back on making decisions anyway, but there could be problems if we move into another period of postponement after June."

In County Durham, nominations for candidates were due to close yesterday and be published tomorrow.

The Home Office has announced the new deadline will be May 10, but the council is still planning to publish a list of candidates this week.

Local authorities will incur some extra expenses, including printing new posters and hiring buildings for the count, but Coun Robson said the new date would not result in significant financial implications for Durham.

Councillors who were due to retire in May will be asked to stay on, and there will be arrangements to give them powers for an extra five weeks.