An MP today branded as a "waste" the spending of £170,000 of taxpayers' money promoting referendums on setting up a mini-Parliament in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Government officials have splashed out on glossy leaflets, a website and travelling to the region to explain to thousands of voters the pros and cons of directly-elected regional assemblies.

But Skipton's Tory MP David Curry branded the exercise a waste of money and said: "How many hospital scanners could you buy for that?

"How many computers for classrooms could we have for that? How many policemen could we employ?"

In a written Parliamentary answer, Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said the three regions going to the polls would spend £500,000 on the information campaign by March - about £170,000 each.

The cost of the 'Elected Regional Assembly: Your Say' campaign launch in York two months ago was another £25,000, including venue hire, refreshments and transport.

And hundreds of thousands of pounds more will be spent on the campaign in the next financial year, said the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Curry, who tabled the Parliamentary question, said: "It is a surprising amount of money to spend on something to which most of the public are indifferent.

"It is a waste of money - just as the regional assembly will be."

He branded the campaign "propaganda" for a "yes" vote even though the Electoral Commission has said the pro and anti-devolution groups would spend equal amounts of money.

Mr Curry said: "Regional assemblies are a great hoax, not a great north vote. The Government is pretending they will have a real role to play but they won't. It will be more politicians, more talk and more bureaucrats."

Voters in three regions - Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and North West - will be offered the chance of a regional assembly in October.

The assembly, of between 25 and 35 elected members, would control a budget of £570 million.

A "yes" vote would see a mini-Parliament set up in Yorkshire and the Humber in about 2006.

Jane Thomas, of the pro-devolution Campaign for Yorkshire, said the £170,000 was a small price to pay for explaining the implications.

She said: "It is about quality and if this campaign genuinely draws people into a debate about the future of services in the region, the future of schools and the future for their children it will be money well spent."