CIVIC leaders in North York-shire have expressed concern at research suggesting that nine out of ten younger voters know little or nothing about a crucial vote which could change the face of local government in the county.

The Government will hold a referendum in October to find out if people want an elected regional assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber.

If there is a "Yes" vote, then the current two-tier system in North Yorkshire, with a county council and seven district councils, will disappear, to be replaced by a single-tier system. It all rests on residents' votes.

However, polling by research company MORI has shown that 90 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds know little or nothing about the issues they will be asked to vote on, and more than half said they did not know it was going to take place.

John Weighell, the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: "This is very worrying. People will also be asked whether they want one or more all-purpose councils to replace the county and districts. They need to have some understanding of the issues they are being asked to decide on, or the results could undermine the high quality of local services."

The chairman of Ryedale District Council, Brian Cottam, is opposed to the idea of a regional assembly, saying he wants to keep democracy and services local.

He said: "People seem to have no appetite for regional government generally. There's been a reasonable amount of publicity about the referendum, but very little has been done by the Government to inform people of how changes could affect them."

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), which ordered the local government review, said: "The ODPM has commissioned research by the Boundary Commission, who will inform us of their final recommendations on May 25. Once these are received, people will have a further six weeks to comment on the proposals. At this stage, it is not something that we are commenting on."

Updated: 10:54 Monday, May 10, 2004