A "YES" vote for a mini-Parliament for North Yorkshire could be ignored if the turnout is low, the Government has revealed.

Campaigners are now faced with the push for a regional assembly being derailed by voter apathy.

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford admitted the debate about regional government "hasn't gone as wide as it should".

He said a turnout threshold had not yet been set.

But he warned: "If the result is derisorily small, then we will not feel bound to proceed - even if there is a majority in favour."

Mr Raynsford added: "It is no longer a debate just for the political and chattering classes, but it hasn't gone as wide as it should. There is plenty of time to put that right."

The government will next month select up to four regions in northern England to hold referendum on regional assemblies.

The north east will certainly be selected, with Yorkshire and the Humber a second favourite to be picked.

A deal was recently struck to allow North Yorkshire residents to vote for a mini-Parliament and keep their county council.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister originally insisted a "yes" vote for a directly-elected assembly would signal the scrapping of traditional county councils in favour of new single-tier unitary authorities.

This would prevent "home rule" creating more red tape, Ministers said. But the ODPM accepted a Liberal Democrat proposal to give residents the option of keeping historic counties.

An amendment to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill in the House of Lords gave voters a choice between retaining counties or introducing smaller unitary authorities.

The regional assembly proposals had split MPs and councillors in North Yorkshire, which is in a position unique to the rest of the region. The rest of the region, including York, has unitary authorities which would

automatically survive. This remains the case under the new deal.

Updated: 09:22 Friday, May 23, 2003