THE possible death of historic County Durham loomed yesterday when the Government signalled its plans to re-organise local government.

David Miliband, the communities minister, announced a quickfire consultation, paving the way for replacing two-tier authorities with unitary councils across England.

The move could also kill off the county councils in North Yorkshire and Northumberland. Unitaries already exist across Tyne and Wear and former Cleveland, as well as in Darlington.

Mr Miliband, who invited all shire council leaders to face-to-face talks, insisted no decisions had been taken about local government structures.

But a leaked memo last year revealed he believes a double tier, of a county council and several districts - such as Durham City, Sedgefield and Wear Valley - is wasteful and confusing.

He wrote: "Citizens don't know which tier is responsible for what. This creates problems in trying to access services, or hold councils to account for the decisions they take."

The only disadvantage Mr Miliband saw to switching to unitary authorities was defeating opposition in some county halls.

Critics have called the abolition of England's 34 shire counties - some of which date back to Anglo-Saxon times - as an attack on a traditional Tory powerbase.

But, in the memo to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Mr Miliband insisted only unitary councils could provide "strong, strategic leadership and accountable, cost-effective services".

In an attempt to minimise opposition to the shake-up, councils are being asked to suggest the boundaries of the new unitaries, in advance of firm proposals in the summer.

One scenario is that three unitaries would be created in County Durham.

North Yorkshire would also have three and Northumberland would have two.

Alternatively, all powers could be handed to the existing county councils in each area, which would be renamed to reflect their new status as unitaries.

Both options were put to North-East voters as the price for an elected regional assembly, but the assembly was comprehensively rejected in a 2004 referendum.

Ken Manton, Labour leader of Durham County Council, said the authority supported unitary local government, provided there was a single, all-purpose council for the entire county.

The county council argued for a Durham-wide unitary in 2004, and, Mr Manton said: "We have heard nothing since then that would persuade us to change that view.