GOVERNMENT agencies based in North Yorkshire have appeared on a leaked list of organisations which are reported to be facing the axe amid swingeing spending cuts.

The National Policing Improvement Agency, which has a unit in Harrogate and employs more than 150 staff across Yorkshire, is one of 177 bodies in line for abolition, according to the list, although its work may continue under another name.

The office of teenage pregnancy co-ordinator for Yorkshire and the Humber is also being phased out while six of England’s nine regional tobacco control teams will also go, including the Yorkshire branch.

The Pesticides Residues Committee, which is based in York but has no dedicated staff, also appears on the list, while the draft Cabinet Office document also names the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Forestry Commission as among the organisations whose futures are “under review”.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has said the information contained in the leaked report had since been revised and a final announcement will be made “in due course”.

The head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, has launched an investigation into the source of the leak.