CAMPAIGNERS say a council is trying to sway its tenants to vote for their homes to be controlled by a new landlord - with the offer of improvements.

Chester-le-Street District Council, like many other councils across the country, is preparing to ballot its 4,500 tenants on whether they want a not-for-profit organisation to run its housing stock.

Tenants have been told that with such a landlord, money would be available for improvements that the council does not have access to.

But the Chester-le-Street Defend Council Housing campaign, which wants the housing stock to stay under council control, says the council is attempting to win a yes vote with promises of new doors and windows.

Group secretary George Watson, a former councillor, called on the council to have a public debate on the transfer.

He said: "It is unacceptable that not one councillor has debated this issue in public. The decision to sell off our council housing has implications for tenants today, and for our children - the tenants of tomorrow.

"It smacks of desperation for the council to attack an organisation like the Defend Council Housing campaign, which has the support of MPs, trade unions and Labour Party members, and whose policies Labour Party conference has supported for the past three years.''

He said it was important that tenants had balanced information before voting.

Isabel Smith, the council's portfolio holder for housing and community services, said the tenants were at the heart of the council's consultation on the issue.

She said: "We have taken every effort to make sure that correct information is available for our tenants in a range of easy-to-understand formats, so that everyone can be in a position to make their minds up on this issue.

"All the information we give out is independently checked for accuracy, to make sure tenants are not in any way misled.

"It is true to say that with the transfer, tenants would get more improvements and their homes would be modernised more quickly to the Decent Homes Standard. This is what tenants have been telling us they want.

"Tenants will ultimately decide on whether stock transfer goes ahead in a secret ballot. It is their home, their future their choice.''