PRESSURE was today growing within Lancashire for deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to scrap plans for a regional assembly referendum in the North West.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans will force Mr Prescott to discuss the issue in Parliament by tabling a question in the House Of Commons.

It demands to know if he still intends to spend millions setting up a vote for the North West.

Voters in the North East voted No in their referendum earlier this week. It was the only Northern region to be allowed to vote.

Polls in the North West and Yorkshire were suspended in the summer because of concerns about fraudulent postal voting in the June local elections.

Under the regional assembly proposals, limited powers would be devolved from Westminster to regional parliaments, with just one tier of local councils beneath them.

Opponents branded the scheme as toothless, while some councils claimed a yes vote would add £100 to council tax overnight.

Mr Evans believes that the result in the North East would only be echoed if the North West went to vote.

He said: "Any prospect of a referendum or a North West Elected Regional Assembly is now dead and buried.

"The Government has wasted millions of pounds on an ego trip for John Prescott. It's an absolute disgrace.

"There will be anger at the waste of money but there will also be relief that the county council and borough councils can get on with their jobs without fear of being dismembered for expensive white elephants."

Lancashire County Council leader Hazel Harding said: "I think a referendum in the North West would be a poor use of resources that should be spent on public services.

"There was no great outcry when a postponement was announced for the North West referendum and there will be no outcry if it is announced that it will not now happen."

A North West Regional Assembly already exists as a lobbying group for local government in the region, but it is not directly elected.

Its leader, Derek Boden, said: "Polling in the North West consistently shows an appetite for change, and a desire to see more decisions affecting the region taken away from Whitehall."