CRAVEN residents may have to wait until next year to see whether the area will get a new regional assembly.

Last week the Government announced that the referendums on elected regional assemblies in Yorkshire and the Humber and North West would be postponed and rescheduled following concerns about postal voting.

However the referendum in the North East will go ahead as planned on November 4 due to the strong support there for the all-postal process.

Skipton and Ripon MP David Curry said: "It is actually a humiliating climbdown for John Prescott but obviously the sensible thing to do.

"There is no support among the people of Yorkshire, no support from the Labour MPs in Yorkshire and no support from business in Yorkshire.

"They were heading for a humiliating defeat and they have decided to take 24 hours of humiliation rather than a punishing and seriously undermining defeat in the autumn."

Mr Curry has called for the Government to state when the referendum will take place. He said that the current uncertainty made it difficult for local authorities to plan for the future because they could not be sure how much longer they would be in operation.

"It should state categorically that it has ruled out a referendum," he added.

Leader of Craven District Council Carl Lis said: "Given the widespread lack of public support for regional government in Yorkshire, this deferral is to be welcomed. However as leader of Craven District Council, I am sure that the debate on the structure of local government and who runs public services will continue."

Coun Lis told the Herald that the council would be pressing to keep public services local.

"We believe that a unitary North Yorkshire County delivering all your local services would be bad for Craven," he added.

Leader of Lancashire County Council, Coun Hazel Harding said: "I regret that the people of Lancashire will still face uncertainty as to the future of local government, but I can assure people that the first priority of Lancashire County Council is to continue to provide excellent services that meet the needs of our communities."

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has said that the deferral will allow the Government to consider the report from the Electoral Commission on all-postal ballots used in the local government and European elections in June.

Mr Prescott said: "We are still absolutely committed to giving the people of the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber the chance to have their say on the governing of their region. We will seek to reschedule these referendums at the earliest opportunity, once we have considered the report from the Electoral Commission."